What's Locked Inside
by duckys-dream
Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."
1. Chapter 1

Title: What is Locked Inside (I'm open to suggestions)

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Just something that's been tumbling around in my head. Review, PLEASE! I love suggestions. Many, many, many thanks to my pal, and favourite critiquer, Pereybere. You're a gem, honestly.

_(Naveh pronounced 'na' as in __**na**__tive, 'veh' as in __**ve**__ry)_

Doctor Temperance Brennan opened her eyes slowly and squinted to let her pupils adjust to the harsh white light surrounding her.

"Bones," She heard someone say. "Tempe?" Her right hand was surrounded by a comforting warmth and she realised someone was gently holding the hand. Brennan turned her head towards the voice and the source of the warmth but her eyes simply weren't focusing. All she could make out was a shadow against the whiteness.

"Temperance, can you hear me? Oh please," The voice whispered the last part. Brennan tried to speak but all that came out was some sort of groan. Brennan felt her hand being squeezed. "Please."

The voice didn't sound familiar but Brennan tried to analyse what she heard so as to fit the voice to someone she knew. It was female, soft, kind and gentle but not Angela. The voice belonged to someone younger than Angela. From the timbre and the slight accents placed on certain vowels and the drawing out of others Brennan knew she was being address by a girl in her mid to late teens, someone who had lived, but not entirely grown up, somewhere in the south. She couldn't think of anyone she knew who fit that description.

"Are you still with me Tempe?" The voice asked. Brennan squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before opening them. Her vision was beginning to sharpen. She was in a hospital. _Why?_ She closed her eyes again briefly and when she opened them she was looking into a pair of deep, pale grey eyes. Taking in more of the girls face Brennan saw flawless pale skin spotted with a few light freckles and pink pouting lips. The girls face was framed by dark auburn hair. The girl looked tired. A smile stretched her lips and she squeezed Brennan's hand again. Brennan tried to sit.

"Just relax," The girl said. She pressed a button on the railing beside Brennan and the back of the bed slowly started to rise. Once Brennan was in a reclined sitting position the girl adjusted the pillows around her to make her more comfortable.

Brennan's mouth was dry. "Water," She managed. The girl nodded and lifted a cup and straw from the bedside table. She held the straw to Brennan's lips and let her take a few small sips. She nodded, signalling she was finished, and the girl put the cup back on the table.

"Stay with me Tempe," She said. "Just hold on." She turned away from the bed and ran to the door across the room. "Seeley, Angela, she's awake, she's awake." The girl called grabbing the door frame and leaning out into the hallway. Angela and Booth entered the room almost immediately and took a position either side of the bed. Angela on her left and Booth, with the girl behind him, on her right. Both her hands were now being held.

"Sweetie, we were so worried." Angela said. Brennan turned her head towards her friend. Brennan tried to speak, stopped, cleared her throat and tried again.

"What happened?" She whispered, her voice was slightly scratchy.

"You're in the hospital." Angela said.

"I know that Ange, why?" Brennan asked, her voice becoming stronger.

"The doctor said you might not remember." Angela said. "You hit your head pretty hard. You and Booth were out in the field. You had a suspect in custody and in handcuffs. He crash tackled you. You hit your head on a lump of concrete."

"How long have I been here?"

"Five days," Booth said. Brennan turned towards him. "You've been in a sort of coma for five days. I was so scared I'd lose you." He said raising her hand and kissing it gently. Brennan frowned at the unusual display of outward affection. "But you're stubborn, and you're strong, I should've known you'd fight it." He smiled. "I'm so sorry Tempe, this is all my fault."

"I'm sure whatever happened," Brennan began, "You aren't entirely to blame. I'm sure you did all you could to prevent it."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Angela asked. Brennan thought for a moment.

"I was at my desk," Brennan said. "I was writing my final report for the Davis case. I think I fell asleep."

"Brendan Davis?" Booth said. "The guy who buried those kids in his backyard?"

"That's right," Brennan said turning towards him. The girl placed a hand gently on Booth's shoulder. Without turning around he raised his free hand and grasped her fingers. Brennan was unsettled by the look of concern on his face. When she looked back to Angela she saw the same concern. "What? What's wrong?"

"Oh Sweetie, we closed the Brendan Davis case in August."

"Yes," Brennan nodded slowly. "So?"

"Honey, it's April, that was eight months ago." Angela said.

"Eight months?" Brennan almost shrieked. "That's impossible how do I not remember the last eight months?" She turned back to Booth but he was no longer looking at her. He was now looking up behind him at the girl. Her face was pale, her lips almost white, her eyes seemed to have lost some of their intensity and the expression that she wore almost broke Brennan's heart. The girl looked as if her own heart had just been broken. Tears fell from the girl's eyes as she looked at Booth.

Without saying a word Booth guided the girl around to stand in front of him. She sat down carefully on his lap and curled into his chest. Booth's free arm wrapped around her automatically.

"What's wrong with her?" Brennan asked. There was no emotion in her voice. The girl's shoulders started to shake as she let go and cried.

"She wasn't here eight months ago." Booth said rubbing the girls back gently.

"Oh Honey," Angela said. Brennan turned towards her and saw the realisation in Angela's features.

"So?" Brennan prompted looking back to Booth. "Who is she?" She asked. The girl in Booth's lap sobbed audibly now and cried harder. Booth and Angela looked at each other. "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?"

"Her name is Naveh." Angela said. Brennan paled noticeably and swallowed hard. She recognised the name. "She's your daughter Temperance."

"That, she, I can't," Brennan stuttered. "How?" She finally asked.

"She's been bounced around foster homes her whole life." Angela started. "When she turned sixteen in June last year, she as good as aged out of the system. Child Services couldn't find a family willing to take in a sixteen year old and no orphanage would take her for more than eight weeks. There was a series of court proceedings and eventually, after six weeks the name of her birth mother was released to her."

"But she's not supposed to have access to that until she's eighteen." Brennan said.

"That's why she went to court. When she was born, when you," Angela paused and glanced at Booth and Naveh before continuing. "Gave her up, you nominated that your details could be released to her. You said that you had no objection to her finding you one day."

"How do you know all this?" Brennan asked. "I've never told anyone about her, no one. Russ doesn't even know."

"You told us when the DNA test came back positive." Booth said.

"DNA test?" Brennan asked.

"Zach and Hodgins did it." Booth said. "Took a sample from both of you and cross matched it, or whatever."

"Everyone already knew what the result would be." Angela said. "She looks just like you Bren."

"You refused to see it of course," Booth smiled. "Until you had hard scientific proof."

"This is insanity." Brennan said squeezing her eyes shut. "I fall asleep at my desk and when I wake up I've lost eight months of my life and I have a daughter?"

"It's alright Sweetie." Booth said squeezing her hand. "We'll get through this."

"Sweetie?" She said looking back to him. "Did you just call me Sweetie?"

"Well, yes." Booth said. He looked pleadingly towards Angela.

"Oh Bren," Angela sighed. "A lot has changed in eight months." She said and held up Brennan's left hand. Brennan saw a princess cut diamond ring glittering on a very important finger. Beside the diamond ring there was a simple gold band. When she looked back to Booth he was holding his left hand up for her to see. He wore a similar ring on the same finger.

"We're married?" Brennan said indignantly.

"It was a simple ceremony at City Hall. You and me, Naveh, Angela, Zach and Hodgins and a JP." Booth said.

"Married?" Brennan said studying the ring again. "How long?"

"Four months." Booth said. They all turned when someone else entered the room. It was a doctor.

"It's good to see you Temperance." He said walking across to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, just a little confused."

"Doctor, she's lost quite a bit of time." Booth said. "Eight months of her memory."

"That can sometimes happen with this kind of head injury. The memories will all come back." He smiled kindly. He took a penlight from his pocket and ran it across Brennan's eyes. "Excellent." He smiled again. "I'd like to keep you here for the rest of today. Barring any complications I'll send you home tomorrow morning if you promise you'll take it easy. Take the rest of this week off and start work again on Monday if you feel up to it. Carrying on with your normal everyday routine will help bring the memories to the surface. There's no easy fix I'm afraid but being in a familiar environment surrounded by familiar things will trigger the memories you've lost."

"Thank you." Brennan sighed.

"That's good news Sweetie." Angela said after the doctor had left the room.

"I guess so." Brennan nodded. "Do I still live in the same apartment?" She asked moving her hand from Booth's grasp. He moved his arm to surround Naveh

"No," Booth shook his head. "We've got a house in Pine Meadows." He smiled.

"Wow, middle class suburbia."

"Jeez Bones, nothing about our neighbourhood is middle class. You insisted on finding the best neighbourhood with the least amount of crime. Then we found our house and you just had to have it."

"It's beautiful Bren, and huge." Angela said. "Seven bedrooms."

"Seven? Why do we need seven bedrooms?"

"I asked you exactly the same thing." Booth said. "Only four of them are set up as bedrooms. Ours, of course, then Naveh has her own room and there are two guest rooms."

"What about the rest?"

"We both have our own office and there's a library slash television room." Booth said. They all jumped when Booth's cell phone started ringing. He took the phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Booth," He said and paused to hear what was being said to him. "Yes sir, but I," He was cut off by an insistent voice on the other end. "Yes sir, I'll be there as soon as I can." He sighed and hung up.

"I thought they'd given you time off." Angela said.

"So did I." Booth said putting the phone back in his pocket. "I have to go Tempe, I'm sorry."

"I need time to get my head around all of this anyway." Brennan said.

"Ok," Booth nodded and stood up, lifting Naveh with him. The girl was still and taking slow, even breaths. She had fallen asleep. Booth walked around the bed to Angela. She opened her arms and let Booth place the girl in her lap. Angela held the girl securely. Booth bent forward and kissed Naveh on the top of the head. "Sleep tight Bri." He whispered before turning to Brennan. "I'll see you tomorrow morning." Booth said. "I'll bring some clothes up for you." He smiled and kissed her chastely on the lips before leaving the room.

Brennan raised one of her hands and touched her lips gently. Angela smiled. "I knew it all along, didn't I." She said.

"What?"

"Oh come on Bren, you and Booth?" Angela smiled. Brennan returned the smile.

"Alright, you were right Ange." Brennan nodded and admitted defeat. "This is all so strange to me." Brennan sighed. "Me and Booth? I mean I won't deny that it's something I've secretly thought about."

"I know Sweetie, it must be tough for you. Going from all that flirting, innuendo and awkward touches to this but I know you'll find a way to deal with it. You and Booth, you're so perfect for each other. It was just meant to be."

"I don't know what sexual relationship with Booth is like, and I can't pretend that I do."

"You've only got your fantasies right?"

"Ange," Brennan said shocked.

"You guys had that one night," Angela said.

"That was different, there was a lot of alcohol involved. The point is that he knows and I'm scared that he won't realise that I don't."

"He's a sweet guy Hon. He's always been extremely sensitive towards you and your feelings. I don't think you'll have anything to worry about."

"Are we happy?" Brennan asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Delirious." Angela smiled. "I mean you argue, you always have though, haven't you. It's part of what makes you such a great team."

"Why did we get married so quickly? How did we finally end up together?"

"It's a long story." Angela said. "You should ask him, he knows all the details better than me."

"I don't believe that for a second Angela Montenegro." Brennan said. "Your own Soap Opera coming together before your eyes, I'll bet you know every detail."

"Just ask him Hon, it's something he should tell you. It was complicated."

"Ok," Brennan nodded looking suspiciously at Angela. A woman walked into the room carrying a tray of food. She smiled and Brennan before leaving the room.

"I should get a move on," Angela said. "Hopefully, now that you're awake, Naveh will eat something without putting up a fight."

"She stopped eating."

"She stopped everything." Angela said. "She didn't eat, wouldn't sleep and hardly spoke. She was like a ghost, just the shell of who she was before your accident. Booth had to practically drag her kicking and screaming out of here these last few nights. She loves you Bren, it killed her seeing you lying here."

"I can't believe she found me." Brennan said. "I can't believe I have a daughter."

"You should be proud of her." Angela said. "She really is just like you, not just in looks, but in everything. Booth calls her another one of your squints." Angela smiled. "She likes hanging out at the lab. Everyone there likes her, even Goodman. She listens to everything people say and sucks it all in, nothing much gets past her. She'll even sit through one of Hodgins crazy conspiracy theories just in case she might learn something. Plus she likes him and she's very patient. Goodman's letting her do an internship during the summer break."

"What about us, her and I. Do we get on?"

"Like a house on fire." Angela nodded. "It was awkward in the beginning, she was shy and nervous and you didn't know what to say to her. You got over it though. God, you should see her Bren, she has this look." Angela smiled and giggled slightly. "This sceptical, unbelieving glare that she does. Just like yours. It drives Booth and I crazy."

"And she learnt it from me?" Brennan asked.

"No," Angela shook her head. "That's the worst part about it, she's always done it. She did it the first day we met her. You wait until you see her when she does it to Booth, it's hilarious. She's also got that look of Booth's down to a fine art."

"The puppy dog eyed pout?"

"That's the one." Angela nodded.

"How did she manage that?" Brennan asked.

"She learnt it from watching the two of you together. He pulls that face on you all the time."

"Far more often than is fair." Brennan agreed.

"You'll melt when she does it. She's so cute. I just want to eat her sometimes." Angela wrinkled her nose and smiled.

"You better take her home." Brennan said.

"Will you be ok by yourself? I can come back and keep you company later if you like."

"I'll be fine, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok Sweetie." Angela nodded. She sighed and looked down at Naveh. "I wish I didn't have to wake her, but I can't carry her all the way to my car."

"She'll understand." Brennan said. Angela curled forward slightly so she could speak directly into Naveh's ear.

"Naveh Gabrielle Brennan-Booth," She whispered. "Time to go home Jellybean."

"Ange?" The girl said sleepily lifting her head. "Where's Dad?" She asked.

"He had to work." Angela said brushing some of the hair from Naveh's face. "Come on, we'll go home and have some dinner."

"I want to stay here."

"You can't," Angela said. "I won't have this argument with you again Naveh. Your Mom needs her sleep."

"Mom?" Naveh said turning to look at Brennan as though forgetting she was there. Angela stood up helping Naveh to her feet at the same time.

"See you tomorrow Sweetie." Angela stood kissing Brennan on the cheek before shuffling the still sleepy teenager out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: What's Locked Inside (I'm still open to suggestions)

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: For anyone that reads the reviews written for the first chapter, the reviewer Xenuakhenaten, is my Dad. His sarcasm constantly inspires me! Well, not just his sarcasm. Luv ya Daddy.

I can't believe the amazing response I've gotten to this story so far! I've never had so many reviews for just one chapter before! I'm really getting into this. Thanks to each and every one of you. I hope I do you proud.

Brennan woke the next morning when her breakfast was delivered. She thanked the woman who'd brought it in and sat up higher in bed. She was just finishing off the small tub of fruit when she heard a knock on her door. She looked up and smiled at Booth.

"Morning Bones." He smiled.

"Good Morning." She replied putting the empty plastic container down on her tray.

"How are you feeling today?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She said leaning back against the half raised bed.

"Good." He smiled and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Did you sleep ok?" He asked sitting down beside the bed.

"Yes, thank you." She nodded. They both looked back to the door when there was another soft knock. "Morning Naveh." Brennan said.

"Morning M," She caught herself. "Doctor Brennan."

"Did you get some sleep last night?" Brennan asked. "Angela said you hadn't been sleeping much these last few days."

"I did, thanks." Naveh nodded. She put a duffle bag down beside the bed and turned to walk around to the other chair. Booth caught her around the waist and pulled her backwards onto his lap.

"Naveh," Brennan started and sighed. She had no idea what to say to the girl.

"You don't have to say anything." Naveh said as if reading Brennan's mind. "It's ok. I'm gonna take a walk." She said. "Give you two some time alone." She stood up.

"You don't have to do that Bri." Booth said. Naveh nodded and turned towards the door.

"Naveh," Brennan said again. The girl turned around. "Are you too big to give your Mom a hug?" She asked wriggling sideways on the bed. Naveh's face changed in an instant. She was wearing that look again, the one like her heart had just been broken. Brennan patted the bed beside her and held her arms up towards the girl.

Naveh all but launched herself at Brennan. Naveh curled into Brennan's side and rested her head gently on her Mother's shoulder. Brennan kissed the girl gently on the top of her head. Naveh was crying again and clinging tightly to Brennan "It's ok Sweetie, your Mom is here." She whispered. "Just like you always wanted, your Mom is with you."

Booth stood up and caught Brennan's eyes. He pointed to the door and she nodded. He smiled and bent forward laying another kiss on Brennan's lips. This one slightly more lingering than the one he had given her last night. He kissed her a second time quickly and left the room. Brennan turned her full attention back to the girl in her arms.

"I know you were scared Naveh, but it's alright, everything's ok now. I'm fine, I promise."

"I thought I'd lost you." Naveh said softly.

"I know Darling, I know." Brennan said squeezing her tighter and kissing hair again. "I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me."

"Can't you promise that you'll never leave me? That you'll always be with me?" Naveh asked. Brennan felt tears sting her eyes. Her parents had promised her that once upon a time.

"No Darling, I can't." Brennan said. "I'd never make a promise to you that I couldn't keep. I can promise that I'll never willingly leave you and that I'll always fight to get back to you. Is that enough?" She asked. Naveh lifted her tear stained face and met Brennan's eyes.

"It's enough," She nodded. Brennan smiled and wiped the girl's cheeks. Naveh put her head back down and closed her eyes.

"What else is bothering you Sweetheart?" Brennan asked after a minute.

"I," Naveh started but stopped.

"You can tell me Naveh, you can tell me anything."

"I was scared that you'd go back to hating me." Naveh said.

"Hating you?" Brennan said. "I could never hate you."

"You did," Naveh said. "When I first found you, you hated me. I changed everything for you. I sent your world spinning of it's axis at the worst possible time. I was an inconvenience to you."

"Why would you think that?" Brennan asked. Naveh lifted her head again.

"Because you told me so." Naveh said simply. "Because of me you and Seeley almost didn't get married, because of me you almost lost your job, because of me you lost your focus and your work suffered," The girl's lips trembled slightly. "Because of me you were kidnapped, again, and because of me," She paused and wiped her cheeks. Fresh tears replaced those wiped away almost instantly. "Because of me this happened to you."

"Naveh,"

"You were hurt and it's all my fault." Naveh said cutting her off.

"That's not true Naveh, I accepted the consequences of the work I do a long time ago. I accepted that it might one day come to this, or to something worse. I don't blame you for this, why would you blame yourself?"

"It was my stalker ex-uncle that did this too you." Naveh said. "If I'd left well enough alone, if I'd just stayed away, none of this would have happened."

"You listen to me Naveh Gabrielle Brennan-Booth." Brennan said glad she remembered hearing Angela use the girl's full name the previous night. "What ever I said to you in the past I did not mean. I was obviously angry or frustrated with myself and looking for someone to blame. Trying to place the blame for our own mistakes on others is a deeply human flaw that we all share at one time or another. It's borne from our insecurities and self doubt. That's no excuse for what I said to you. No one should ever make you feel like less of a person. You are human, just like the rest of us.

"I'm sorry for ever making you feel like you were to blame. You are my child, and therefore it's me who should be blamed for any shortcomings you may have. And I'm sure there aren't many." Brennan smiled. "But we all have our vices and whatever yours is, genetically we share it so, I gave it to you." She smiled again.

"Not the Nature versus Nurture argument again." Naveh said returning the smile.

"You don't share my views on the subject?"

"No, I don't. I believe that the cross hashing of the effects of genetics and the environment in which a child is raised are too close to call. I believe that it's neither one nor the other. You, however, have broken the subject down to its genetic level. The exact same way you see everything else, as a scientist."

"But," Brennan said as soon as the word had left her mouth Naveh rolled her eyes still smiling.

"_Mom," Naveh smiled rolling her eyes. "You can't seriously believe that."_

"_I do," Brennan nodded. She, Booth and Naveh were sitting on a picnic rug under a huge tree. Naveh took a bite of a blueberry muffin and shook her head. She finished chewing before she continued._

"_If you separated identical twins at birth and raised them in completely different environments you honestly believe that they would turn out the same? They may share some traits inbuilt in their subconscious ancient genetic memory but they would be two completely different people by adulthood."_

"_You and Bones share genetic material." Booth piped up. "And look at the two of you, she's, well Bones and look how screwed up you came out." He smiled and took the rest of the muffin out of Naveh's hand._

"_Shuddup you." Naveh said shoving him playfully. "That was way harsh Dad, you cut me deep." Naveh sighed dramatically and put a hand on her chest, above her heart. Booth just smiled and took a bite of the muffin. "If you'd raised me, I'd be a completely different person, and so would you."_

"_How do you know that?" Brennan asked._

"_Because," Naveh said. "Humans adapt to the situations in which they find themselves, right from birth."_

"_And the ability to do that comes from the evolution of our species. Homo sapiens have evolved over hundreds of millions of years and our ability to adapt to situations, as you say, is embedded in our genetic make up, in our DNA. You say you'd be a different person if I'd raised you, well prove it."_

"_Prove I wouldn't be." Naveh countered quickly and smiled wickedly. Brennan mumbled something under her breath. "What was that?"_

"_Narrow minded." Brennan said loudly a smile threatening to break across her face._

"_I'm narrow minded!" Naveh said indignantly. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?"_

"_I have actually. That brings me to another point. Everyone always says you and I look similar."_

"_Physical genetic similarities are a completely different argument. I can't deny that children often take on physical characteristics of their parents or even grandparents."_

"_How is that different?" Booth asked._

"_It just is." Naveh sighed. "Are you implying that a child would _look_ different depending on the environment it was raised in? That's ludicrous. The fact that I have red hair, pale skin and green eyes,"_

"_Grey eyes." Booth said._

"_Blue eyes," Brennan said at the same time. _

"_Blue-green-grey eyes has absolutely nothing to do with the environment I was raised in, it's purely genetic."_

"_So maybe everything else about you is genetic as well." Brennan said._

"_My Southern Drawl is genetic? My Catholic beliefs are genetic? My fear of dark enclosed spaces is genetic?" Naveh asked. _

"_Maybe." Brennan shrugged._

"_You're puffing muffins Mom. My accent is from living in Georgia for a time during my childhood at a stage that was critical to my lingual development. My Catholic beliefs are from being raised by a Catholic family for a time during a phase of my life when I was searching desperately for something to believe in. And my fear of dark enclosed spaces is due to the fact that I was constantly locked in one for long periods of time over eighteen months."_

"_Puffing muffins?" Brennan asked giggling now._

"_Clutching at straws." Naveh clarified. "Do gay couples raise children who are gay? Do prudes raise prudes? It's a lottery, both genetic and environmental." Naveh said. Brennan's giggles turned to fits of laughter and she was soon joined by Booth. "What is wrong with you?" Naveh asked raising an eyebrow at Booth._

"_I can't believe you just said prude to your mother, twice." Booth said. Naveh rolled her eyes again._

"_Child," She said poking out her tongue._

"_Squint," Booth smiled._

"Mom?" Naveh said. "Tempe?" She waved a hand in front of Brennan's face. Brennan looked across at the girl. "Are you alright? You sort of zoned out on me there for a minute."

"Did I?" Brennan asked rubbing her face. "I think I had a memory."

"Really?" Naveh smiled. "That's great. What was it?"

"You and I and Booth were having a picnic." Brennan said.

"Anything more specific? We have a lot of picnics."

"We were arguing, you and I, about nature versus nurture."

"We do that a lot too," Naveh smiled. "It seems to be a recurring subject for some reason."

"Booth told you that it must be nurture because you and I share genes and that you, well," Brennan paused.

"He told me how screwed up I was." Naveh smiled and nodded. "I remember. That wasn't very long ago, only a few weeks."

"You were locked in dark enclosed spaces?" Brennan asked her. Her eyebrows knitting together with concern.

"That was a long time ago. A lifetime." Naveh sighed. "My own personal 'cupboard under the stairs'."

"I don't know what that means." Brennan said.

"Well, um, it's," Naveh scratched behind one of her ears. "It's from Harry Potter, you see his. You know what, never mind." She smiled.

"What happened?" Brennan asked. Naveh knew Brennan wasn't talking about Harry Potter.

"One of the families I was with," She looked away. "It wasn't a very pleasant experience at all, the whole year and a half was full of things like that."

"Did they hit you?"

"Yes," Naveh nodded. "They weren't the first family that hit me, they weren't the last either."

"It sounds like you had a pretty rough time."

"There are lots of people worse off than me." Naveh said meeting Brennan's eyes.

"Good morning Ms Brennan." A nurse said walking into the room. She was wheeling a small machine in front of her. "I just have to take some basic observations and then you're free to leave. You just have to sign some papers at the desk."

"Thank you," Brennan nodded. Naveh moved off the bed so the nurse could take the readings she needed to.

"I'll go find Dad." Naveh smiled. "Won't be long."

"Ok Sweetie." Brennan nodded. Naveh and Booth walked back into the room a few minutes later. The nurse was just leaving with Brennan's chart. Booth picked up the duffle bag Naveh had brought in and placed it on the bed.

"Some clothes for you to change into." He said.

"Thanks." She smiled.

"We'll give you some privacy, we'll be outside when you're ready." Brennan nodded and unzipped the bag.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Thank you, so much, to everyone who's written to me with feedback! I'm so glad you're all enjoying the ride.

"Welcome home." Booth said unlocking the front door and letting them in. Brennan looked around the large, well furnished living area. There were framed photos all around the room. "I'll give you the tour."

"I'll be upstairs." Naveh smiled and vanished up the stairs.

"That's the kitchen and dining room, through there. Through the kitchen there's a laundry and a door out to the backyard." Booth said pointing to a door. "Back here," He said leading her along a passage beside the stairs. "This is my office." He said opening the door so Brennan could look in. "That's a bathroom." He pointed. "And that's a guest room." After Brennan had looked in each of the rooms Booth led her upstairs. "This first one is the TV room and library." Booth said walking into the room.

Huge floor to ceiling bookcases covered most of three of the four walls. Naveh was lying on one of the two couches reading a book. She hung her head upside down over the arm of the couch and smiled at them. She then turned back to her book. There was a large TV connected to a DVD player and VCR. There was also some sort of games consol set up. Smaller bookcases on either side of the TV held DVDs, videos and games. There was a laptop sitting on the coffee table in the centre of one end of the room.

"What are you reading Bri?" Booth asked.

"Harry Potter," Naveh said looking at them upside down again. "I was thinking though, when I finish this chapter I should probably head off to the library and do some study. I have a Shakespeare Essay due at the end of next week."

"What day of the week is it?" Brennan asked suddenly.

"It's Thursday." Booth offered. "The twelfth of April. It was Easter last weekend."

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Brennan asked.

"They gave me time off because of the accident." Naveh said. "They sent a heap of work around for me to do during the week. I start again Monday."

"So you're going to the library. Will you be home for dinner?" Brennan asked, trying her best to sound like a mother. Booth and Naveh both smiled at her.

"I have dinner with Angela on Thursdays." Naveh said. "We watch movies and stuff then she usually drops me off at school on her way to work Friday morning. I'll take my own car though and bring myself home tomorrow morning."

"You have a car?"

"If you can call it that." Naveh nodded and smiled. "You and Seeley bought it for me for Christmas."

"A car?"

"It's nothing fancy and I don't use it much. I catch the bus and train too and from school. I use the car on weekends mostly or to get to work if I have a late shift."

"Where do you work?"

"At the hospital." Naveh said. "I'm like Izzy Stevens on probation."

"I don't know what that means." Brennan said.

"Of course you don't." Naveh smiled. "I'm a Candy Striper. Sort of, I get paid."

"Are you coming home between the library and Angela's?" Booth asked.

"I don't know, it depends on how much work I can get done. I'll send you a text message and let you know." Naveh said. "I'll come find you before I leave."

"Ok Sweetie." Booth nodded. He guided Brennan out of the library with a hand on the small of her back.

"What's next?" Brennan asked.

"That's Naveh's room." He said pointing. Naveh's name was spelled out in multicoloured wooden letters stuck to the door. "You're going to get well acquainted with this next room before long." Booth said opening a door. "This is your office." He said. "You picked it because it has the French doors and the balcony. You assured me that it helped you write." He smiled. "There's a little balcony off Bri's room too but it looks down on the neighbour's fence. Yours is much more romantic." He said opening the French doors and stepping out onto the balcony. Brennan followed him.

"Wow, this is amazing." Brennan said. The long wide backyard opened out in front of her. A large expanse of bushland spread out beyond the boundary fence at the end of the yard. The yard was dotted with small round garden beds filled with colourful flowers. Brennan detected the sweet scent drifting in the mid morning breeze. Unseen birds filled the air with their songs. Brennan rested her elbows on the railing of the balcony and lent forward.

"Nice huh." Booth said leaning down beside her. Brennan nodded and smiled.

"Why do you call her Bri?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Her middle name is Gabrielle." Booth said. "I took Bri from that."

"But why?" Brennan asked looking over at him. Booth sighed before answering.

"Seven months ago, when Bri first turned up in the Lab looking for you she was a completely different person to who she is now. She was covered in healing bruises, her wrist was fractured, and she had absolutely no self confidence. She's been through some awful things Tempe, things I don't even want to think about and I'm sure I still don't know it all. She's more open about it now, but at first I couldn't get her to talk about anything."

"That doesn't really explain anything." Brennan said.

"I wasn't finished Bones." He said.

"Well, go on with your story."

"Back then she needed someone, anyone. She needed someone to make her feel special, someone to show her that she was worth more than all the people who had made her feel the way she did. She needed someone to love her."

"And that someone was you?"

"As it turned out, yes, it was. I call her Bri because nobody else does. Bri is the name that I gave to her to show her that she meant something to me. To prove to her that there are people in this world that she can trust."

"She said, in the hospital today, that I hated her."

"Oh Tempe," Booth sighed. "You didn't mean it when you said it. It was just bad timing."

"That's exactly what I said, and I don't even remember what she's talking about."

"It's a long story."

"What about us?" Brennan asked. "How did we end up together. I asked Angela, I wanted to know why we got married so quickly, she said it was a long story and that I should ask you because you'd know the details better. She said it was complicated."

"Since when are our lives anything but complicated?" Booth smiled.

"Will you tell me?"

"I don't want to tell you everything at once." Booth said. "I don't want to overload you with information."

"How long have we been a couple?"

"About six months."

"We were only going two months before we got married?" She asked. Booth nodded.

"That part of the story is relatively simple. We got married so quickly, aside from the fact that we were madly in love, because it's the only way Child Services would let me adopt Bri. They weren't going to let a single man with a job like mine adopt a sixteen year old girl."

"You adopted her? Why didn't I?"

"It was a rough patch for you Bones. I'd started the adoption process before you and I were a couple and been rejected. Bri was living with me but we had virtually no rites. I wasn't her legal guardian she was a ward of the state living under my supervision."

"She was living with you, not with me?"

"Bri only moved in with me in the beginning because she had no where else to go. The two of you weren't getting on so well and I figured there was no other choice."

"How did we end up together?" Brennan asked again. Booth sighed deeply and ran his hands over his face.

"Let me finish the tour, and then we'll sit down with coffee and I'll tell you the story. I think you're going to need to be sitting down."

"Ok," Brennan nodded. Once they'd closed the French doors and left the study Booth continued along the hallway of the upstairs.

"Next to your office here is the other guest room. And opposite that over there is another bathroom. Basically it's Bri's bathroom, we have a master suite in our room. This is our room." He said leading her through the door. "Suite's through there." The huge room was decorated in warm colours and there was another balcony off the back and side of the room. Brennan's eyes fell upon the large bed in the room and her mind automatically wandered to what she and Booth had gotten up to in that bed.

"It's nice." Brennan said.

"I'm glad you like it," Booth smiled. "You'll be sleeping in here, I'll take one of the guest rooms."

"Booth, no, I can't kick you out of your own bed. I should take the guest room."

"It's your bed too and don't worry about it. I'm used to sleeping in the guest room on account of some of our arguments." He smiled. "Besides, the doctor said it'd be better for you to be somewhere familiar."

"Thank you." Brennan said sitting on the edge of the bed. "I was a little worried that you'd forget that I'd forgotten." She said. Booth smiled and sat down beside her.

"I'm trying my best." Booth said. "Some of the things I do, holding your hand and kissing you. Touching you, they've just become habit to me over the last few months. I don't want to push you Tempe, I don't want you to feel pressured. I just need for you to realise that sometimes I'll do something that you don't expect without even realising I've done it. I will forget that you don't remember but all you have to do is pull me up on it."

"You've been nothing but sweet Booth. I appreciate all this. I enjoy this, you and I being open and honest with each other about things, about our feelings."

"I know that must be hard for you too, opening up to me, but I'll always listen Tempe, always. I'm sure after a couple of days adjusting to this we'll be fine." Booth nodded. "We've always been good at adapting to each other."

"Yeh, we have." Brennan nodded.

"I can help you Temperance, if you'll let me in."

"I'll try," She said looking up at him. She held his eyes for a long, silent moment before leaning over and pressing her lips softly against his. Booth's arms automatically went to her waist. Brennan raised one hand and threaded it through Booth's hair, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. She smiled against his lips before pulling back. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. He tightened his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Yes," She nodded, her head still on his chest. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. She opened her eyes when she heard movement further along the hallway. She saw Naveh coming out of her room zipping her bag closed as she headed towards the main bedroom. She looped the handle of the satchel over her head, pulled her hair from under the strap and adjusted the bag at her side. She stopped in the doorway and smiled.

"You headed out Sweetheart?" Brennan asked. Naveh smiled and nodded.

"Have you got enough money to get yourself some lunch?" Booth asked.

"Yes, thanks."

"Ok, well be careful, and let us know what you're doing."

"I will." Naveh smiled and nodded. "Bye."

"Bye Honey." Booth smiled.

"She seems like a good kid." Brennan said.

"She is," Booth nodded. "She is."

"She seems to randomly alternate what she calls us. Sometimes she calls you Dad and sometimes it's Seeley. Sometimes I'm Mom and sometimes I'm Tempe."

"It seems random." Booth said. "I'm sure in her head it's perfectly logical. She's just like you Tempe, reasonable, rational, logical, scientific, stubborn and utterly frustrating." He smiled. "I could strangle her sometimes, I swear, if I didn't love her so much."

"Is that why you never strangled me?" Brennan asked. Booth smiled and nodded. He kissed her forehead.

"Exactly."

"_She is my child Bones. She may not be my flesh and blood, but I am her Dad. Why can't you see that? I wish you could feel how wonderful that is. Let her in Tempe, for God's sake, give her a chance. Everyone deserves a chance."_

"_And why should I?" Brennan asked angrily. _

"_Because she is your daughter." Booth said looking both angry and frustrated._

"_She's a stranger. Just because our DNA matches doesn't mean we have any other connection."_

"_You're wrong." Booth said. "You do have a connection and that connection is me. And unless you want that connection to be broken forever, you'll give her at least the chance that she deserves."_

"_What?" Brennan asked her anger replaced instantly by stomach knotting worry. "You'd choose her over me."_

"_I love you to death Temperance." He said placing a hand on her cheek. "And I would never leave you."_

"_But you said,"_

"_I'm asking you, I'm begging you, don't make me choose. Don't make me break that little girl's heart. I don't know if there's anyway I could ever forgive you for that."_

"Sweetheart? Are you ok?" Booth asked kneeling in front of his wife. "Tempe, darling, what's wrong? God, you're so pale, you're shaking. Are you sick? Do we need a doctor?"

"Seeley." She said in a whisper.

"I'm here baby." He said putting one hand on each side of her face. He used his thumbs to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. "I'm here." She collapsed forward off the bed into his arms. He held her tightly while she cried. "Hey, it's alright, it's ok. Don't cry Darling, don't cry. Tell me what's wrong."

When she spoke her voice was choked with tears. "I remember." She started. "I remember us fighting."

"What about?" He prompted softly.

"Naveh." Brennan said. "You told me I wasn't giving her a chance. You asked me not to make you choose."

"Oh Tempe." Booth sighed and squeezed her tighter. "It's ok Sweetheart, it's ok. All that was so long ago, it doesn't matter anymore. The only fighting we do over Bri now is whether or not she should be allowed to have Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches for lunch."

"Would you really have chosen me?"

"Yes, I'll always choose you." Booth nodded and sat back pulling Brennan onto his lap. "But I knew I wouldn't have to."

"You played me?" She asked.

"Yes," Booth chuckled. "I played you. It was my last desperate attempt to forge some sort of relationship between the two of you. I had no other options but to play dirty. I knew that you felt the same way about me as I did about you. I knew that once you saw how much it meant to me, and what I was willing to risk, you'd give Naveh a chance. And I knew that once you got to know her, you'd fall in love with her just like I had."

"Sounds like you had it all worked out." Brennan said.

"Well I must have." Booth nodded. "My plan worked perfectly." They sat in silence curled up together on the floor. "Are you ok Sweetheart?" Booth asked kissing the top of her head again.

"Yes," Brennan nodded. "I'm fine, but I want to know more."

"As long as you're sure, come on, time for that coffee." He said. Brennan got to her feet followed closely by Booth. They headed back downstairs into the kitchen and Booth set to making the coffee. He carried two cups into the lounge room and set them on the coffee table. He and Brennan sat at opposite ends turned towards each other. Their backs pressed against the arm rests. "What do you want to know first?"

"How did we finally end up together?" Brennan asked sipping her coffee.

"It must have been about two months after the Davis case." Booth said. "In the October of last year I found you one night on the roof of the Jeffersonian."

"What the hell was I doing on the roof?" Brennan asked.

"You were standing on the edge looking down at the cars in the parking lot." Booth said.

"You don't mean, I wasn't going to jump was I?"

"I honestly don't know." Booth said. "I asked you about it, but you were never sure yourself. I panicked of course. I was so scared Tempe the distance between the stairwell and the edge you were standing on suddenly seemed so far. I ran for you and grabbed you around the waist. I pulled you backwards and we toppled blindly back onto the roof. You'd managed to flip yourself over somehow and you were lying face down on top of me.

"You cried so much. I've never seen you cry so hard. You just screamed and wailed for almost three hours."

"And you just lay there with me on top of you?"

"At first." He nodded. "And I wasn't just lying there, I held you Tempe I whispered sweet nothings in your ear."

"What did you say?"

"That I was there for you, that everything would be ok." Booth said. "That I'd fallen in love with you." He grinned. "We stayed on the roof about half an hour before I picked you up and carried you into your office. Once you were done crying you fell asleep. I stayed with you all night and just held you while you slept."

"That's sweet Booth." Brennan smiled.

"Angela burst into the room to find you. Naveh had called her the night before in tears because I hadn't come home. She saw the two of us together and just smiled. 'I knew it' she said. Then she realised that there must be a very good reason for you to be sound asleep in my lap and a very good reason why I hadn't gone home to my daughter the night before."

"Does she know what happened on the roof?"

"I never told her." Booth said. "You may have, I don't know."

"And that was it?"

"Pretty much." Booth nodded. "You woke up and clung to me so tightly and things went on from there. I proposed to you three weeks later. It was one of the best days of my life Tempe even though it didn't work out exactly as I planned."

"What happened?"

"I asked you to be my wife and you said no." He smiled. "I thought I was going to die until you explained. You said you couldn't marry me until you'd done something else. 'Not yet' you told me."

"_Temperance." Booth said from her office doorway. Brennan smiled and turned to face him. It was late in the evening and Brennan was just packing up to go home._

"_Booth, what are you doing here?" She asked. He walked across to her and captured her lips._

"_I wanted to ask you something." He said. She raised her eyebrows expectantly. "What are the chances do you suppose, that you'd be my wife some day?" He asked dropping to one knee. He pulled a ring out of one pocket and held it up for her. Brennan was completely stunned, she wasn't sure she was breathing. "Will you marry me Tempe?" He asked. A single tear rolled down Brennan's cheek and she looked at the ring._

"_No," She said finally. Booth went pale and looked as if he was about to pass out. "I can't, not yet."_

"_Not yet?" Booth almost squeaked._

"_Where's Naveh?"_

"_She, she's in Angela's office." Booth said. Brennan walked out of the office leaving Booth stunned and still kneeling. He recovered a moment later and followed her out of the office towards Angela's office. Brennan entered the office without knocking with Booth right on her heels._

"_Naveh." Brennan said. The girl looked up at her a little stunned. "I need you to listen to me, very carefully."_

"_Bren," Angela said standing up ready to defend the girl._

"_It's ok Ange," Naveh said. "What is it?" Naveh asked also standing. She walked across and stood in front of Brennan._

"_Naveh, I need you to hear me out. Maybe somehow find a way to forgive me." Brennan said. Angela and Booth both did a double take. "I need you to know that no matter what I've said to you since we met, I didn't mean any of it. I don't hate you, you surprised me and I had no idea how to handle that. You took me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in a way I've never been challenged before. The only way I knew how to react to that was to try and remove the source of my discomfort."_

"_And that's me?" Naveh said._

"_Yes but that's only half of it." Brennan nodded. "Naveh, when you were born and I held you for the first time, you were the most perfect thing I'd ever seen. I couldn't believe that I'd had a hand in creating you. That's what your name means, did you ever know? Naveh, is Hebrew for perfect. I gave you up because I wanted you to have a better life than what I knew I could provide for you. I wanted you to have a real home and a real family._

"_When you walked in here with broken bones and covered in bruises I felt as though I'd failed you. I felt responsible for what had happened. I've thought about you every single day since you were born, hoping that you were happy and that you were having a good life. But you weren't, and it's my fault, you're my daughter, my flesh and blood and I failed you. I felt guilty and I couldn't stand it."_

"_Doctor Brennan, you might like to try, but you can't control every little thing that happens. Sometimes things are simply out of our control, they're up to fate, in God's hands. I don't know." Naveh shrugged. "You may have had a hand in creating me but you made a choice that you thought was right. You can't look back sixteen years later and decided you'd made a mistake and that you were wrong. You're gonna fuck me up even more if you keep talking that way." Brennan couldn't help but laugh._

"_You're not fucked up Naveh, you're still as perfect as you were the first day I held you in my arms."_

"_I'm not perfect."_

"_I think you are. Anyone less perfect would have knocked me out weeks ago if I'd treated them the way I'd treated you."_

"_What happened that you suddenly need me to forgive you? Why now?"_

"_Because I can't marry Booth until I know you've at least heard me out." Brennan said. Angela let out a small squeal of excitement._

"_You guys are getting married?" She said almost jumping up and down._

"_I don't know," Brennan said. "Are we?" She looked back to Naveh._

"_You can't just march in here and make a demand like that." Naveh said. "You can't make this about me. Do you want to marry him? Or are you using me as a stall tactic, a subtle way of letting him down. I won't let you force the blame onto me because you're scared and can't commit."_

"_Way to assert yourself Jellybean." Angela said. "You go girl."_

"_Angela, don't encourage her." Booth said._

"_Naveh," Brennan said but Naveh silenced her with a wave of her arm._

"_You haven't answered my question. Do you want to marry him?"_

"_What does it matter? That shouldn't influence your decision."_

"_I've made my decision. I just want to know before I tell you. Do you want to marry him?" Naveh asked again. Brennan looked around at Booth who was still holding the ring and then back to Naveh._

"_Yes," She said. Naveh's face lit up in a smile._

"_Ok." She nodded. "Ok."_

"_What does that mean?" Brennan asked. "For us?"_

"_It means you are incredibly lucky that I don't subscribe to the first impressions theory." Naveh said. Booth walked over to Brennan and wrapped his arms around her. She spun around in his arms and smiled up at him._

"_Come on Jellybean, I think we should leave them alone." Angela said taking Naveh by the arm as she walked past. She stopped in the doorway and turned back around. "Just don't break any of my equipment ok." She smiled before walking out and closing the door behind her._

"Tempe? What do you remember?" Booth asked. Her expression had gone blank and she'd zoned out. Booth sat patiently and waited for the memory to run its course.

"I remember when you proposed." Brennan smiled. She looked down at the ring on her finger again. "You're a sweet guy Booth."

"I try." He smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: WOOHOO! Thank you so much for all the wonderful feedback! I can't believe people actually like this piece of tripe! BUT I'M SO GLAD! Read on and I hope I don't disapoint! Keep 'em coming and if I leave you confused just let me know and I'll fix it up. I love suggestions so feel free to make some.

On with it then ...

* * *

Booth looked up from his position on the couch when the front door opened. Naveh walked in with Angela close behind. Brennan was asleep beside him, using him as a pillow.

"Good morning." Naveh smiled.

"Aw, you guys are so cute." Angela sighed.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" Booth asked raising his eyebrows.

"Relax, it's my day off G-Stud." Angela said.

"We didn't know if you'd be working or not today." Naveh said. "I thought if you were that Mom might like to have a familiar face around, instead of being stuck awkwardly with me all day."

"I have to go in a bit later." Booth said. "There's a bunch of paper work to go over."

"You'll be finished in time for dinner though, won't you?" Naveh asked. Brennan groaned and opened her eyes slowly.

"What time is it? How long did you let me sleep for?" She asked looking around the room.

"It's just after nine." Booth said. "You weren't asleep long, only twenty minutes or so."

"Ok," Brennan stretched and rubbed her eyes. "Did you two have a good night?"

"Yeh," Angela nodded. "It was fun."

"That's good," Brennan nodded sitting up.

"Dad," Naveh said. "You'll be there for dinner won't you?"

"Why? Are you cooking something special?" Brennan smiled.

"It's Wong Foo Friday." Naveh and Booth said at the same time.

"I don't understand what that means." Brennan said.

"Every Friday everyone gets together at Wong Foo's for dinner." Booth said.

"Oh, I should've known that." Brennan nodded.

"You're going to fit right back into the routine of this house." Angela said coming to sit beside Brennan on the couch. "With Naveh in school and the two of you working there's a set routine that you all follow. For example Jellybean stays at my house on Thursdays because she has choir practice Friday mornings and the bus doesn't leave early enough for her to get there, her school is right on my way to work. There are lots of little things, but once you see it all in motion you'll understand."

"That seems logical enough." Brennan nodded.

"I knew you'd agree." Angela smiled and shoved Naveh playfully when she tried to squeeze into the last remaining space at the end of the couch. "No room for you Sweetie." Angela said shaking her head. "She's gonna pull the face." Angela whispered leaning across to Brennan. "You watch her."

Naveh dropped her head forward for a second. When she looked up her eyes looked sad and her bottom lip was slightly in front of her top. Angela's face broke into a grin and she lent forward to grab Naveh around the waist. "Sorry Jellybean but that was necessary for a very important demonstration." Angela said. Naveh turned in Angela's lap and looked slightly confused for a moment. Then one of her eyebrows rose up her forehead and her eyes narrowed. "That's the other one." Angela said looking at Brennan again.

"I hate that look." Booth said reaching out and poking Naveh on the end of the nose. She smiled at him and reclined against Angela.

"How tall are you?" Brennan asked. "You seem unusually small for your age."

"I'm five four." Naveh said. "Didn't get those genes I guess." She shrugged.

"That seems unlikely." Brennan said. "Everyone keeps pointing out that you inherited quite a few of my looks but the fact that you aren't very tall, considering my height is unusual. Your father grew to be quite tall also."

"Bones." Booth said. She looked across at him. He screwed up his nose and shook his head, indicating that she should drop it.

"I was just curious."

"It's ok." Naveh smiled. "I have a lot of factors working against me in the height department. To begin with I was a LBW baby."

"What's that?" Angela asked.

"Low birth weight." Brennan said. "She was only five pound six ounces."

"Secondly, I wasn't held much as a baby. Hard data now shows us that infants not held during the first eighteen months of life often grow up to be emotionally and sometimes physically stunted. In some cases a child may even die if not held. On top of that I was under nourished and often left in a crib for which I was far too big over long periods of time. From the time I was six months old until I was about two I simply didn't have room to grow."

"Scientific studies show that stunted children often never fully regain the height they lost early on in life." Brennan said.

"I'm still hoping for a growth spurt." Naveh smiled.

"You don't seem at all emotionally stunted." Brennan said.

"I am, or, at least I was. It was only with continuous coaxing from these two that I started to open up." Naveh said.

"That makes sense." Brennan nodded.

"What?" Booth asked.

"Since I woke up just about every time Naveh has been with either of you you've had her on your lap. She craves the physical contact. More than likely because it was denied to her as a child. I'm sure as my memories start to come back I'll find it to be an increasingly common pattern."

"Not just with us." Angela said. "I've found you sitting at your desk reading through a file more than once with your daughter curled up asleep on your lap."

"Jack is constantly hoisting me over his shoulder. He thinks it's hilarious."

"I'm sure you find it less than amusing." Brennan smiled.

"I let him get away with it." Naveh nodded.

"Come on Bri, you can help me get some coffee together." Booth said standing up. Naveh stood up and followed him into the kitchen.

"What about Zach?" Brennan asked. "What's his signature Naveh trait?"

"Zach, well he just about passes out whenever Jellybean walks into the lab." Angela giggled. "I hate to be the one to tell you this Sweetie but your assistant is completely head over heals in love with your daughter, or at least deeply in lust."

"Ange," Brennan smiled. "Zach would never,"

"Oh yes he would." Angela nodded cutting her off. "You'll see him tonight when she's around. Jellybean is very smart but she is also very naïve. Zach would never hurt her, he'd never hurt anyone, but I'm afraid that he's going to unknowingly lead her into a situation she just isn't comfortable with. Booth and I had to convince her that it was ok to trust other people but we had no idea that she'd do it quite so well."

"What do you mean?"

"Once she trusts someone that trust is unwavering, she's full of a fierce sense of loyalty." Angela said. "Now that she knows us and trusts us it'd take a hell of a lot to convince her to let go. She'll take your deepest, darkest secret to the grave if you trust her with it."

"That's not hard." Brennan said. "She is my deepest, darkest secret."

"Oh come on Bren, you've got to have something juicier than an illegitimate daughter lurking in your closest."

"What about her twin brother?" Brennan asked.

"What?" Angela shrieked. Brennan grinned wickedly.

"That was a joke Angela."

"God," Angela said putting a hand to her chest. "You're terrible, don't do that to me."

"I'll get it," Naveh called when the phone started ringing. She put two cups on the coffee table and turned quickly to grab the phone.

"You have your own cup?" Brennan said. Angela nodded.

"I have clothes in Jellybeans closet as well. I spend a lot of time here. I pitch in and help take care of her when the two of you are working."

"Thank you," Brennan said picking up her cup. Naveh walked back towards the kitchen carrying the phone. It was obviously a call for Booth. "I know Naveh must really appreciate having someone like you around. I'm sure I do."

"Sweetie, you two are as close to a sister and niece as I can ever imagine having." Angela said. "I love you both to pieces. I'd do anything for you."

"Thank you Angela."

"But that's not fair Dad," Naveh said following Booth out of the kitchen.

"It's the nature of the job Bri. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about it."

"What suddenly there are no other Agents in the FBI?" Naveh said. Booth spun around to face her. Naveh stopped so quickly in order not to run into Booth that she nearly fell backwards. Booth reached out and took hold of her shoulders.

"This is my case," He said still gripping her shoulders. "This is my job. I will make it for dinner Bri. I promise."

"Don't promise me that." Naveh said pulling herself free of Booth's grasp. "You've promised that every Friday for the last month and I get a call or a text message at six o'clock telling me you'll be late and then another at seven thirty telling me you can't make it. Five weeks in a row Seeley but like an idiot I believe you every time and I sit there waiting for you to come."

"Naveh, I know it's tough but," Brennan started.

"Don't," Angela said cutting her off and shaking her head. "Don't gang up on her." Brennan nodded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Brennan said. Naveh glanced at her and then back to Booth.

"Just don't even bother." Naveh said walking up the stairs.

"Sweetie," Angela said standing up.

"I'll go." Brennan said following Naveh up the stairs. She stopped outside the girl's room and knocked on the door. "Naveh, it's me, can I come in? Please."

"Please just leave me alone." Naveh said from the other side of the door. Booth walked silently past on his way to the main bedroom.

"I just want to talk to you, make sure you're alright. Please," Brennan said. She heard shuffling inside the room and the door clicked open. Brennan pulled the girl into a hug straight away. "It's alright Sweetie, I know you want your Dad to be there at dinner. Sometimes things don't happen the way we want. Booth just wants you to be happy."

"It's not even that Mom, honestly." Naveh said pulling back from the hug. "I know you guys work hard, and I know I reap the benefits of that, I go to one of the very best schools, I live in a beautiful house, I have just about everything I could possibly want and need. I don't mind that sometimes you guys are too busy to do things with me. Neither of you ever planned that you'd have to worry about a child, not yet anyway. I don't expect you to change you're whole lives just because of me. I've never wanted you to suddenly adhere to a nine to five lifestyle. You guys have tough jobs with long hours, but you enjoy them. I'm not selfish, I don't want to take that away from you. I have no rite to wander in off the street and change all that."

"Then what is it?" Brennan asked.

"It's that fact that he promises he'll be there and then backs out. Right from the beginning the only thing I ever asked was that you tell me the truth and don't make promises to me that you can't keep. I can't handle that. I've been let down my whole life by people I thought I could trust and Seeley was the first to say that he wasn't going to be one of those people. If he can't make it to dinner all he has to do is say it. I won't love him any less because of it, you either if there's something we're supposed to do and you get called away. It's life and I can live with that. I get disappointed, of course, but I can live with it. It never hurts as much when it's just a plan that gets broken but when it's a promise," Naveh sighed.

"Do you trust me Naveh?" Brennan asked.

"Yes," Naveh answered honestly. "With my life."

"Well I promise you, that no matter who else is there tonight, you and I are going to have a good time. We'll eat whatever Sid decides to put in front of us plus dessert and we'll dance until we're too tired to stand any longer or until Sid kicks us out. When we get home we'll watch a movie, any one you want. Ok?"

"Ok," Naveh nodded. "Thanks Mom." She said and hugged Brennan again.

"Come on, come and say goodbye to your Dad then we'll figure out what we're going to do for the rest of the day. We might take Angela out for one of those picnics you say we have if you like. It looks like a nice day."

"You know you shouldn't mollycoddle me when I have a tantrum." Naveh said as they headed back downstairs. "I'll end up spoilt."

"Something tells me you deserve a little spoiling." Brennan said. "I was more worried that my actions would be conceived as an attempt to win your affections." She sat down at one end of the couch. Angela was sitting at the other end flipping through a magazine.

"To get me to play favourites?" Naveh said sitting down between Brennan and Angela and leaning back.

"Do we do that, Booth and I? Do things otherwise out of character to make you like one more than the other."

"I don't think so, if you do I don't notice it. It's pointless and you should know it. I know who my favourite is and it should be quite clear to the two of you."

"In light of the fact that I don't remember significant portions of our life together, would you care to make it clear to me?" Brennan said. Naveh smiled her cheekiest smile, one Brennan was quickly becoming quite fond of.

"Easy," Naveh said. "I love you and Dad equally and Ange is my favourite." Angela giggled and pulled Naveh towards her for a hug. Brennan smiled and rolled her eyes.

"I'm almost sorry I asked." Brennan said. Booth came back down the stairs dressed in one of his suites. He was adjusting his tie as he walked.

"I've gotta go." He said stopping in front of the couch. "I'm sorry Bri, I know you thought we'd have a few extra days together." Naveh stood up and straightened his tie.

"Have a good day at work Dad." She said and kissed his cheek. "If I don't see you at Wong Foo's I'll see you when you get home."

"Ok," Booth smiled. "Have a good day," He said bending down and kissing Brennan on the cheek.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Hi all! Thanks again to everyone for your fabulous reviews. I'm so sorry it's taken my so long to update, work's been crazy. This is one of my favourite chapters and I hope you enjoy it too!

* * *

"From what I've studied most children and teenagers detest the regular recommended daily portions of vegetables and are often bribed into consuming them. Instead, you seem to actually be enjoying them." Brennan said that night watching Naveh eat mouthfuls of the steamed beans, carrots, broccoli and potato that had accompanied the omelette Sid had placed in front of her. Naveh dropped her fork loudly onto the table and stared open mouthed at her Mother, one of her eyebrows rising slowly. Angela, who was sitting on Naveh's right, separating her and Zach, giggled. A smile spread across Naveh's face and she shook her head.

"I like veggies Mom." Naveh said simply and picked up her fork.

"Right, I should've known that." Brennan nodded.

"Parents often try to disguise the vegetables they give to their children in order to trick them into eating." Zach said. "Was that technique every used on you Naveh?" He asked.

"No," Naveh said shaking her head and finishing another mouthful of vegetables. "It was a simple case of 'eat what is put in front of you, or don't eat'."

"So do you actually enjoy the vegetables?" Brennan asked. "Or do you only eat them because they're placed in front of you? Sid would surely bring you something else if you didn't want them."

"Firstly, I don't ever question Sid's choices." Naveh said.

"Thank you Jellybean." Sid himself said walking past the table. She smiled at him before turning back to the four people she was dining with.

"Secondly, I do enjoy the taste of vegetables and I enjoy the versatility they provide. The same vegetable can be cooked several different ways in order to create a range of completely different palatable encounters. That, combined with other elements of a meal, meat, sauces, herbs and spices as well, of course, as the combination of vegetables used, creates virtually endless possibilities allowing the senses to never become bored.

"Thirdly, I understand and fully accept simply that vegetables are good for me. They provide essential nutrients vital to my continuing growth. Each serve of vegetables I consume aids in my muscle and bone development as well as ensuring my body has the fuel it needs to comply with the mental and physical requirements I place upon myself.

"And lastly, why is it that my dinner and I have suddenly become the centre of conversation?" She asked her eyebrow shifting upwards. Angela giggled again.

"It was just an observation." Brennan said.

"Observation noted." Naveh said taking a sip from her glass of milk. "May I eat in peace or are there still more observations burning in your mind?"

"You're left handed." Brennan said.

"No," Naveh shook her head. "I eat with my knife and fork left handed, or backwards, because as a child I mirrored those around me. Whether someone sat beside me or not I don't know but I obviously only paid attention to the person sitting opposite me, as you are now.

"Probably a parent or favoured older sibling." Zach said. Naveh nodded and continued.

"Before fully grasping the concept of left and right I picked up my knife and fork like this," She said holding her hands up. "Because the person opposite me, the focus of my attention, had their fork on this side and their knife on this side. I am primarily right handed but can legibly write with my left hand. I am genetically predisposed to ambidexterity as you well know."

"Studies have shown that ambidexterity is linked to genius IQs." Hodgins said. He was sitting opposite Angela, next to Brennan.

"That's a good point," Naveh nodded. "However controversial those studies may be." She grinned eliciting another giggled from Angela. "It's important to note that the two are not mutually exclusive. Someone may have a genius IQ but not be ambidextrous and not all ambidextrous people have genius IQs."

"Do you?" Brennan asked. "Have a genius IQ?"

"I honestly have no idea." Naveh shrugged. "I've never undergone any official intelligence tests."

"Of course you do sweetie." Angela exclaimed and giggled again.

"You," Naveh said shoving Angela playfully with her shoulder. "Have had far too much to drink." Angela giggled again and lifted her glass.

"Jealous?" She asked taking a long drink from the brightly coloured drink. "I can't wait until you're old enough to hit the bottle with me." Angela smiled. Sid brought out a tray full of desserts and placed one in front of everyone. He cleared the dinner dishes away whistling as he made his way back to the kitchen.

"Oh yum," Angela taking a mouthful of an exotic looking slice of chocolate cake. "This is great Jellybean, what did you get?" She looked at the table in front of Naveh.

"Nothing," Naveh said looking down at her half eaten food. "I haven't even finished my meal yet."

"That's because you talk too much." Hodgins said.

"That's not fair." Naveh said. "I'd not talk at all if people didn't keep asking me questions."

"Oh Sweetie, it's not true anyway, you eat notoriously, painfully slowly." Angela said taking another bite of cake.

"Eating slowly aids digestion." Zach said. Angela glanced across at him.

"That knowledge doesn't seem to slow you down." She said sticking her fork in the cheesecake Zach had already half finished.

"I suppose." Hodgins said rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "You are only little."

"Low blow Hodgins." Naveh said glaring darkly at him.

"Good things come in small packages Naveh." Brennan smiled. The conversation drifted onto other topics and Naveh returned to her dinner.

"Oh," Angela exclaimed. "I love this song." She started to rock back and forwards in time with the music. She knocked Naveh's elbow as she reached for her milk. The glass slipped from Naveh's fingers and landed on its side on her plate. The half glass of milk spilled out flooding what remained of her omelette and vegetables.

"Looks like I'm done eating." Naveh said. She righted her glass and slipped out of the booth. She walked over to the bar and waited for Sid to come along to her.

"Oops," He said studying her plate. "Looks like you're finished. You want some more?"

"No thanks." Naveh shook her head. "Thanks though."

"I'll grab your dessert then." He said taking the plate and empty glass. Naveh smiled and headed back toward the booth. Angela had vanished and Naveh spotted her by the jukebox stuffing coins in the slot. Once she'd made her selection she headed back towards the table.

"Come dance with me." Angela said grabbing Naveh by the hands and dragging the girl towards the small dance floor. "My songs are up after the next one." Angela said starting to unbuttoning the bottom buttons of Naveh's shirt.

"Ange?" Naveh said wrapping her hands around Angela's wrists.

"I want to see that belly when you dance." Angela said.

"Which songs did you pick exactly?" Naveh sighed letting go of Angela.

"You'll see Sweetie." Angela said continuing with the buttons on Naveh's top. "Trust Aunty Angela, ok?"

"I do Ange," Naveh nodded. "I think."

"That's the spirit Jellybean." Hodgins called and let out a whoop of encouragement. As the song started to come to a close Angela stepped back and admired her handy work. Naveh stood with her well worn jeans sitting low on her hips, her favourite red sneakers only barely visible beneath the length of her pant legs and her olive green button down top tied off above her bellybutton.

"Perfect." Angela nodded. Brennan noticed, as she watched Naveh, that the girl showed no hint of modesty at being partially undressed in public.

"She has amazing self confidence." Zach said making Brennan turn back to the table.

"She belly-dances?" Brennan asked.

"Oh yeh," Hodgins nodded. "And she's good." He added taking a sip of his beer.

"Despite her size," Zach started narrowing his eyes at Naveh. "She's incredibly well developed for her age. She shows all the typical biological signs of a young woman. The upper brim of her pelvis has widened, her waist has narrowed and her breasts have reached what appears to be the end of primary development. Ouch." Zach jumped as Hodgins foot connected with his shin under the table. "What?"

"Oh Zach." Hodgins said shaking his head. Sid walked out and placed a bowl on the table where Naveh had been sitting. It was full of jellybeans. Brennan smiled.

"What?" Zach asked as Sid walked away.

"You don't note a girl's developments into a woman in front of her mother Man." Hodgins said.

"Oh, sorry Doctor Brennan."

"What exactly are your intentions with my daughter?" Brennan asked.

"My, my, my intentions Doctor Brennan?" Zach stuttered as a blush crept up his cheeks.

"You've obviously noticed that Naveh is a very attractive young woman."

"Yes Doctor Brennan." Zach squeaked.

"And so I'd like to know if your interest in her is purely biological or if there's some emotion behind it. You're a young male and Naveh is a young female who displays more than a few appealing qualities." Brennan said. Zach drained his glass of water before answering.

"I like her a lot." He finally said.

"Ok," Brennan nodded. "But if you hurt my daughter Zachary Addy, you'll have me and Booth to deal with, understood?"

"Yes Doctor Brennan." Zach nodded.

"Good," Brennan nodded. She turned back toward the dance floor when she heard Naveh giggle. Brennan recognised the opening riff of Foreigners 'Hot Blooded'. Naveh and Angela both started singing as their bodies started to move in time with the beat of the music. Angela grabbed Naveh's hips and held the girl close as they danced together. The scene seemed familiar to Brennan and she was sure this was an activity Naveh and Angela often took part in.

As the second chorus started to play the two shimmied backwards and forwards with the beat.

"Hot blooded, hot blooded." Angela and Naveh sang loudly. They broke apart and continued dancing Angela moved around behind Naveh and slipped her hands into the girls back pockets. Naveh's hands stretched behind her and rested on Angela's hips. They continued their shimmy back to back through the next chorus.

"How far back can you go Naveh?" Hodgins called as she and Angela broke apart again. Naveh stopped dancing momentarily and looked across at him. A killer grin broke out across her face and she tapped her foot in time with the music, after a moment she began to bend her knees slightly. As the next chorus approached Naveh started to shimmy forwards and then backwards again she bent almost entirely in half before flicking herself upright again. Hodgins whooped again and wolf whistled.

"Shake it baby." Angela called grabbing Naveh by the hips again. Naveh giggled. Naveh's arms extended at her side as she and Angela danced. Brennan saw a bracelet around one of Naveh's wrists. There was a round charm about the size of a penny hanging from the chain glinting as it swung backwards and forwards. There was something familiar about the bracelet but Brennan couldn't remember what. She knew there was a memory just below the surface of her consciousness but she couldn't manage to bring it forward.

"Hodgins," Brennan whispered leaning across to him. "Should I be worried that my daughter is gyrating with Angela?" She asked. Hodgins smiled broadly before shaking his head.

"Angela's inhibitions are close to non-existent at the best of times and after she's had a few drinks they fly right out the window. Naveh is simply free of shame and inhibitions all the time. No need to worry, they're just good friends having good fun. And I believe it's called the 'bump and grind'." He said. Brennan nodded and turned back to the pair as another song started. One Brennan didn't recognise.

"Shakira? Ange? Really?" Naveh said.

"Please?" Angela said.

"Oh, alright." Naveh sighed and planted her feet. She took a deep breath her body starting to sway softly backwards and forwards.

"Shakira?" Brennan asked.

"Very hot, very tiny, Columbian, singer, songwriter, belly-dancer." Hodgins said. Brennan almost jumped when Naveh's hips started to swing faster as the tempo of the song increased. She made perfect figure eights with her hips while her shoulders stayed steady. Her arms flicked and curved in time with her hips. Angela tried to copy but couldn't quite get her movements coordinated.

"Here, like this." Naveh said slowing her movements down by half. She put a hand on each of Angela's hips to help guide her in the dance. When Naveh removed her hands Angela kept up the rhythm Naveh had set her in. "Now speed it up." Naveh said speeding up again. Angela did the same and for a moment her hips swayed in synch with Naveh's. "Keep your shoulders still." Naveh said placing a hand on each of Angela's shoulders.

"I think I'm getting it."

"You ready for the next part?"

"No," Angela shook her head. "I think I'll stick with this for now." She said. As the tempo of the music changed again Naveh stopped her figure eight motion and snapped her hips in a continuous direction for four beats before changing and moving the other way. After repeating this a few times she went back to doing figure eights. She raised her hands above her head and started to move around in a circle her hips keeping perfect time as she moved.

The following song was also by Shakira. "How low can you go?" Angela asked waggling her eyebrows. Naveh moved her feet a little further apart. Continuing with figure eights she slowly moved into a low crouch before coming back up. Hodgins raised his fingers to his mouth to whistle but stopped short when Brennan let out a wolf whistle of her own. The song faded out and there was a few seconds of silence before the next song started.

"You're going to kill me." Naveh said stopping and wiping a hand across her brow.

"Go on," Angela said.

"I'm gonna need some water after this one please Sid." Naveh said turning towards him her hips already moving.

"You got it kid." Sid nodded. There was a few more seconds of silence before the artist started to sing. Naveh and Angela both sang along. As the chorus started Naveh's hips shook unbelievably fast. She moved around the dance floor more during this song. Angela dancing clumsily along beside her laughing and singing as they moved.

"Alright Jellybean," Hodgins called and whooped again. He and Angela were both clapping and letting out childish catcalls as Naveh moved. Zach even clapped and whistled. When the song was over Naveh headed towards the bar where Sid had placed a bottle of water for her.

"Thanks," She smiled and lifted the bottle to her lips. After taking a few long drinks she returned to the dance floor. She and Angela danced around crazily to songs with a heavier beat.

"She's amazing." Brennan said watching her. Hodgins was still cheering and whistling as he watched Angela and Naveh dance.

"Come on Mom," Naveh called stilling her movements for a few seconds. She held her hand out towards Brennan and smiled. After a second of hesitation Brennan joined them and started dancing too.

As she watched Naveh and Angela completely free of embarrassment she started to loosen up more. Neither of them had worries that they might be preserved as idiots, they fully realised and accepted the childishness of the situation and they relished in the freedom that allowed them.

Finally Brennan let go. She let out a part of her personality that was closely guarded and deeply suppressed. Her friends wouldn't make fun of her silliness. In fact Naveh and Angela in particular would welcome it and support it. As she danced she realised she was having the most fun she'd had in years. _That I remember_. She reminded herself. She laughed hard singing when she knew the words.

She was swung around the dance floor between her daughter and her best friend and she inturn swung them around. Naveh shrieked and laughed harder when Angela lifted her off the ground. "Daddy!" Naveh exclaimed wriggling free of Angela's grasp and running across to him. She jumped into his arms and Booth was ready to take her weight, his arms wrapping around her as her legs swung around him. "I'm so glad you made it." Naveh said as Booth carried her back onto the dance floor.

"I'm glad too Sweetie." He said setting her feet on the ground. Angela and Brennan had watched the exchange but continued to dance. Angela swung Brennan out and she collided with Naveh knocking the girl off her feet. Booth held Brennan by the shoulders to stop her following Naveh onto the ground. He smiled at her. "Hi," He said when she wrapped her arms around him.

"Hi," She whispered into his chest. Angela had helped Naveh up and they were dancing again. Hodgins and Zach finally joined the group.

Brennan caught sight of Naveh a few minutes later she was standing beside their table watching the group. She grabbed a few jellybeans out of her bowl and popped them in her mouth.

"_You're going to turn into one of those someday." Angela said watching Naveh. Naveh looked up from the book she was reading. Naveh smiled and held out her hand. Angela took the last jellybean on Naveh's palm and sat down on the chair beside her. They were just beside the stairs to the quarantined part of the lab. Angela lent back, her head resting against the wall of the raised platform. "Where do they come from? Do you keep them in your backpack?" Angela asked._

"_No," Naveh shook her head. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some more jellybeans._

"_Gross," Angela screwed up her nose. Naveh rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket again. She pulled out a plastic bag containing more jellybeans and held them up for Angela to see. "Oh, that's alright then." Angela said and took another sweet out of Naveh's hand._

"_Angela," Hodgins said leaning over the rail to look down at them. "Do you have the sketch you did of our latest Jane Doe." He said. Angela sighed and stood up._

"_Back to work," She said straightening her skirt. "Catch you later Jellybean." She said walking back onto the platform. Naveh turned back to her book. Brennan was standing in the doorway watching the exchange. She sighed and walked across the room._

"_Afternoon Doctor Brennan," Naveh said not looking up. Brennan swiped her card and continued up the stairs. She squeezed her eyes shut against tears and walked over to the examination table._

"What do you remember Tempe?" Booth asked quietly dipping Brennan.

"I remember how she got her nickname." Brennan said motioning towards Naveh who was now taking another long drink of water. She waited while Angela took a drink from another brightly coloured beverage. They walked back out onto the dance floor together.

Hodgins and Zach were the first to leave Wong Foo's. Brennan watched as Naveh hugged Hodgins and kissed his cheek. She then turned and hugged Zach. Brennan giggled at his reaction. His eyes flew wide open and he turned red almost instantly. He cleared his throat several times before he was able to say goodbye. They had barely disappeared out the door before Angela grabbed Naveh and pulled her back onto the dance floor. She'd had a few more drinks since they'd finished dinner.

Angela vocalised her disappointment loudly when Sid rang a bell above the bar. "Sorry folks." He shrugged.

"Come on you," Naveh said leading Angela back towards their table. Booth and Brennan were there a moment later.

"Which car did you bring?" Booth asked helping Brennan into her jacket.

"Mine." Brennan said. "I don't think I'm in much condition to drive though, I've had several beers."

"It's alright, I've got the SUV and someone has to get Angela home." Booth said.

"I'll take Ange," Naveh said untying her shirt and redoing the buttons. "I'll make sure she gets home and tucked in."

"Ok." Booth nodded.

"Ange," Naveh called as Angela headed towards the door. Angela didn't seem to hear her and continued walking. "I'll see you at home." Naveh said reaching into Brennan's pocket and pulling out her car keys. She kissed her mother quickly on the cheek before running to catch up with Angela who was already out on the street.

"Drive safe," Booth called after her.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: I hate my job with its never ending days, I hate my house which has no hot water and no heating, I hate my neighbours car which wakes me up at 5am EVERYDAY...I'm loving your reviews though, and I'm loving writing this story.

* * *

"_Doctor Brennan." A security guard said walking up onto the platform of the lab. "You've got a visitor waiting out at reception." He said._

"_I haven't got time for visitors." Brennan said. "Just get a contact number and I'll organise a meeting when I get the chance."_

"_I told her you were probably too busy." The security guard said. "She said she'll wait until you have time."_

"_Did she give you a name?" Brennan asked._

"_No," The security guard shook his head. "But I get the impression it's very important that she speak with you."_

"_I'll go get her." Angela said. "I'm not doing anything else at the moment. Maybe she can talk while you examine."_

"_Ok, thanks Ange." Brennan nodded turning back to the skeleton she was examining._

"_That's her," The security guard said pointing across the foyer before returning to sit behind the security desk. The young girl was sitting in one of the hard plastic waiting chairs. One of her arms, encased in a blue fibreglass cast, rested across her lap the other arm supported her head. The palm pressed to her forehead and the elbow resting on her knee. Her dark auburn hair fell forward concealing most of her face._

"_Hi," Angela said crouching just in front of the girl. She jumped and looked up. "Oh my God," Angela said lost for a moment in the girls bottomless pale grey eyes. "You're here to see Doctor Brennan?" She asked. The girl nodded. "I'm Angela, I'll take you through to her. She's busy, but I think she'll make time for you." The girl nodded again. Angela stood up and offered her hand down to the girl. She looked stunned for a second before taking Angela's hand and standing up._

_Angela led the girl through to the automatic doors. "Before I take you in I have to warn you about what you might see. Doctor Brennan's an anthropologist and she's examining some remains at the moment, some human remains. It's a little bit gross, do you think you'll be ok?" Angela asked squeezing the girl's hand. The girl nodded again. "Ok," Angela nodded and led her the rest of the way into the lab. Booth looked up and saw the girl before the others, he froze as he watched them make their way across the lab._

"_Doctor Brennan," Hodgins finally said seeing the girl also. Brennan stopped her examination and looked up at him. She then followed his gaze across to the girl Angela was leading up the stairs._

"_Can I help you?" Brennan asked straightening out. The girl looked at her feet for a second before looking back up and meeting Brennan's eyes. She didn't speak instead she reached into her pocket and retrieved a folded piece of paper. She handed the slip to Brennan and looked away. Brennan unfolded the crumpled white paper and read it over. When she'd finished she folded it again and handed it back to the girl. "Who are you?" Brennan asked. One of the girl's eyebrows rose and her eyes narrowed. Booth groaned and Angela giggled._

_The girl looked down at the piece of paper in her hand and then back to Brennan. "I know what that says," Brennan said. "But it's obviously a hoax, who are you really, what do you want?" She asked crossing her arms. Angela took the piece of paper from the girl and read it over._

"_Naveh Gabrielle Brennan." Angela read. "Sweetie this says," Angela stopped to read the information again. "It says Naveh is your daughter."_

"_I'm well aware of what it says, thank you Angela." Brennan said. Hodgins, Zach and Booth stood with their mouths open. "Booth," Brennan said turning towards him. His eyes moved to hers. "Do something,"_

"_Like what?" He asked finally able to move again._

"_I don't know, arrest her." Brennan said._

"_Arrest her?" Booth said his brow furrowing in confusion. "I can't just arrest her."_

"_As far as I am aware falsifying a birth certificate is against the law." Brennan said._

"_Yes," Booth nodded. "I need proof though, I can't just arrest her because you say so."_

"_A DNA test will prove it." Hodgins said. "We can do that right here."_

"_Fine," Brennan nodded. "Do the damn test. I haven't got time for this."_

"_Zach," Hodgins said. Zach was the last to snap out of the trance like state._

"_Right," Zach said heading across the lab and grabbing a few small items. Hodgins took a forensic swab from Zach._

"_Doctor Brennan," He said holding up the swab. Brennan opened her mouth and let Hodgins run the swab gently along the inside of her cheek. He replaced the cap on the swab and labelled it._

"_I've got reports to write," Brennan said. "Come and find me when you're ready to proceed with this." She turned quickly and headed towards her office._

"_Now it's your turn Short Stuff," Angela said taking another swab from Zach. Naveh lifted her head slightly. Her eyes were brimming with unshed tears._

"_Angela," She whispered._

"_Oh Sweetie," Angela said wrapping her arms around Naveh. "Not the reaction you were expecting huh. It's ok, she's just in shock. It takes a lot to unnerve Temperance Brennan and she doesn't like it when it happens. She just doesn't know how to react and so she takes the defensive." Angela said releasing her hold on Naveh. Booth moved towards them and Naveh's eyes widened._

"_It's ok," Booth said holding up his hands. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not going to arrest you, I just wanted to get a better look at you." He said._

"_I don't know how Doctor Brennan could possibly deny that this girl is related to her." Zach said. "The physical resemblance is uncanny."_

"_You know Bones," Booth said still looking at Naveh. "Nothing means anything until she has scientific proof of it."_

"_Open wide." Angela said holding up the swab. Naveh opened her mouth and Angela collected a sample. She capped the swab and handed it to Hodgins to be labelled. Angela ran her fingers gently along the healing bruises on Naveh's face. There were bruises on what was exposed of her arms as well. Angela knew that there were more bruises that they couldn't see._

"_How long will this take?" Booth asked._

"_We'll have the results in about an hour and a half." Hodgins said._

"_Ok," Booth nodded and looked at his watch. "I'm going to take Naveh here out to lunch. We'll be back about then."_

"_Mind if I tag along?" Angela asked._

"_No, of course not." Booth shook his head. "My name's Seeley Booth." He said holding his hand out for Naveh. She took it gently and looked up at him. He offered her a reassuring smile before swiping his card and heading out of the Jeffersonian._

"_What do you feel like for lunch?" Booth asked as he pulled his SUV out of the parking lot._

"_I," Naveh started and then stopped. "I have no money."_

"_My treat," Booth said. "Your pick, anything you want."_

"_I don't know," Naveh shrugged._

"_How about you Angela?" Booth asked looking into the rear view mirror at her. She'd silently slipped into the back sensing that Naveh deserved a little special treatment._

"_How about Wong Foo's?" She suggested._

"_Great idea." Booth nodded._

"_Naveh," Angela said as they sat in Wong Foo's waiting for Sid. "That's a very unusual name. It's pretty, I like it."_

"_Doctor Brennan picked it." Naveh said. "It's Hebrew, it means perfect."_

"_How old are you?" Angela asked._

"_Sixteen," Naveh said looking up at her. "I turned sixteen in June."_

"_So Bren was fifteen when you were born?" Angela asked. Naveh nodded and looked back to the top of the bar._

"_It doesn't surprise me that even at fifteen Bones was that smart." Booth said._

"_Language was the first thing she got stuck into, it's completely replaced by anthropology and science now but she was a budding linguist for at least a couple of years." Angela said. Sid came along and placed a meal in front of each of them. Naveh looked up at him._

"_We didn't order." She said. It wasn't an accusation, just a statement. Booth chuckled._

"_You don't have to order." Booth said. "Sid just knows what you want."_

"_Oh, ok." Naveh nodded. She looked down at the stir fry in front of her and then back to Sid. "I have a pine nut allergy. This doesn't have any does it?" She asked._

"_No," Sid shook his head. "It's got sesame seeds and a little sesame oil though, is that ok?"_

"_Yes," Naveh nodded. "It's only pine nuts."_

"_I'll keep that in mind, enjoy." He smiled and started to move away._

"_Thank you," Naveh called after him._

"_Why have you come looking for your Mom now?" Angela asked. Naveh squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before answering._

"_I don't really have a choice." Naveh said._

_She explained that in order to know her biological mother's identity she'd had to go through a long string of court proceedings. When she finally received the information she had two weeks left in the orphanage where she had been living. While she didn't have to worry about where she was sleeping and whether she'd have a meal each day she'd tried to find her mother. Her time at the orphanage had run out and she'd been living on the streets for three weeks._

"_You don't want anything from Bones?" Booth asked._

"_No," Naveh shook her head. "I just wanted to find her, to see her, to know where I came from. I don't expect her to just drop everything and welcome me into her home as if I'd always belonged there. I just had to know. Do you understand?"_

"_We do," Angela nodded._

"_I guess secretly I hoped that we could be friends some day. Maybe go out for lunch or something if I ever get some stability."_

"_That doesn't sounds like too much to ask." Booth said._

"_Where did you live before the orphanage?" Angela asked._

"_All over." Naveh sighed. "I've bounced my whole life. I've lived in eleven different foster homes since I was born. I've never been with the same family for more than two years."_

"_That sounds terrible." Angela said. She couldn't help but let her gaze linger on Naveh's bruises. The girl blushed and tried to cover her arms self consciously. "Don't," Angela said placing a hand gently on Naveh's. "It's ok, you don't have to be embarrassed. That part of your life is over now. You should wear every mark with pride. Stand up straight and let the whole world know that you've been through hell and now you've come out the other side. You're life starts now and it might not always be easy, but it's time for you to live for yourself. You've survived a life of upheaval and pain but you're still standing. You should be proud of that."_

"_No one's ever put it quite like that before." Naveh said running a finger under her eye where she knew the skin was still puffy and almost black. "But I don't want your pity."_

"_You're human, just like me. I don't pity you Babe, if anything I'm jealous. I wish I could be half as brave as you. I feel awful for the things that must have happened to you and I wish you hadn't had to go through them but all those things have made you the person you are. I like that person, I like 'you'."_

"_Like me?" Naveh said shaking her head. "You don't even know me."_

"_I don't have to." Angela said. "I have a good instinct towards people. Getting to know you is half the fun. Don't you think?" She said looking up at Booth. He smiled and nodded. "Booth is good at reading people too and if we both like you, you must be alright."_

"_Sid," Booth said calling him towards them. "This is Naveh. She's a friend of ours." He said when Sid stopped in front of them. "Would you do me a favour, set up an account for Naveh that I'll pay. Whenever she wanders in here looking starved, give her something to eat, ok? I don't care what it is and I don't care if it's three meals a day everyday."_

"_Sure Booth, whatever you want." Sid nodded and walked away._

"_That's pity." Naveh said._

"_That's something people do for people they like. Friends help each other out. I know one day, if I ever need it, you'll return the favour."_

_They finished their meal in silence. "We should head back." Booth finally said. "Hodgins will probably have the results. I think we should be there when he tells Bones. We might need to protect him when he tells her she's a mother."_

"_You don't know the result but you're already talking as though you know I'm Doctor Brennan's daughter."_

"_Sweetie, we can see you," Angela said. "There's no way you aren't Bren's daughter."_

_When the three walked back into the lab Brennan was just walking up to Hodgins. "Do you have the results?" She asked. Angela felt Naveh's hand slide into her own and she squeezed it gently._

"_Yes." Hodgins nodded handing Brennan a piece of paper and stepping back. Angela led Naveh up to stand directly in front of Brennan. Booth stood behind her. Brennan's eyes skimmed the page as she read the results._

"_I haven't got time for this." She said dropping the print out. "This is incredibly inconvenient. What do you want from me?" She demanded putting her hands on her hips. Naveh looked as if she'd been kicked in the stomach._

"_I," She started. "I don't want anything."_

"_You must want something." Brennan said._

"_I only ever wanted to meet you." Naveh said tears filling her eyes again. "I just wanted to know what my mother was like, where I'd come from."_

"_Why don't you tell her how she came to be." Booth said._

"_What do you mean 'how she came to be'?" Brennan asked. "The stalk didn't drop her off Booth. You do know how babies are made don't you?"_

"_Of course I do Bones, I have a son remember." Booth sighed. "That's not what I meant."_

"_When I was fifteen I had sex, I got pregnant and I had a baby." Brennan said. "I gave the baby up and never thought I'd see it again."_

"_You signed papers saying you had no objection to me finding you." Naveh said._

"_I know I did." Brennan snapped. "You're not supposed to have that information for at least another two years and I honestly didn't think you'd ever come looking for me. I didn't want you, I gave you away, isn't that a big enough indication of my feelings."_

"_You could've said no," Naveh said the tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "You could've said you didn't want me to find you. I never would've come if I'd known. I'll go, you can go back to pretending I never existed. You're obviously happy with the empty nothingness of your life." Angela gasped when Brennan's hand shot out lightning fast and connected with Naveh's cheek. Naveh stumbled back a step and held her face._

"_Bones," Booth growled the warning._

"_What? I'm just supposed to let her walk in here and insult my lifestyle? I'm not allowed to defend myself?"_

"_Defending yourself is one thing." Booth said. "Physically harming a sixteen year old girl is another. Can't you see she's been through enough of that already?" Brennan felt a pang deep inside her chest. She turned around and stormed off. Angela had the girl in her arms desperately trying to calm her. Naveh's whole body was trembling and she was hyperventilating._

"_Shh, it's ok." Angela whispered. "Calm down, please calm down, you're going to make yourself pass out. Naveh, please." She begged. "Everything will be ok Sweetie, we'll work it out." Angela felt Naveh jump when Booth put his hands gently on the tops of her arms._

"_It's only me." Booth said leaning closer. He wrapped his arms around Naveh and Angela at the same time. Naveh stood between them clinging tightly to Angela and completely surrounded. "Let it all go," Booth said. "We're here for you."_


	7. Chapter 7

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: A nice spicy M for you all. Short but hot (I hope).

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Hey guys, hope you enjoy this chapter. I hope it was worth waiting for. Finally gonna kick it into M :oP

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. I hope everything becomes clearer and clearer as we move a long. Just let me know what you think.

* * *

Brennan rolled over when she heard a soft knock on the bedroom door. "Tempe, honey, are you ok?" Booth asked opening the door just enough to stick his head in. "Hey," he said walking across to the bed and kneeling down. "What's the matter darling?"

"I had a dream." Brennan said.

"A nightmare?" He asked taking her hand and stroking gently with his thumb.

"No, yes, I don't know." She sighed. "It was about Naveh, the first day she came to the lab."

"I remember." Booth nodded.

"It wasn't just a memory, it was as if I was witnessing the whole thing from outside myself."

"Angela, Naveh and I have all told you about that day." Booth said. "You know everyone's version of it. That might explain the way you saw it."

"You and Angela were so nice to her and I was," She stopped and drew a deep breath. "I was so mean to her." She sighed. "Did I really slap her?" She asked.

"Yes," Booth nodded. "Yes you did."

"How could she possibly have ever forgiven me for the way I treated her?"

"You're her mother Tempe, she loves you. You apologised to her and you told her the truth. All Bri has ever wanted was the truth. She can forgive you because she knows you meant it when you said you were sorry."

"How did you know I was upset?" She asked.

"I was on my way back to bed from the bathroom, I heard you crying." He said wiping his free hand across her cheeks. "It's late, you should try and get some sleep." He smiled and kissed her forehead gently. "Are you going to be ok?"

"I'll be fine." She nodded.

"Good," He squeezed her hand before letting it go and walking out of the room. She wanted to call out to him, wanted to ask him to stay but the words caught in her throat. She closed her eyes and sighed when the bedroom door clicked shut.

She rolled over and tried to get comfortable again but the smell of Booth on the pillow beside her wouldn't let her. She reached out and ran her hand along the soft cotton. She got out of bed and tiptoed out of the room. She walked along the hall to the guest bedroom Booth was sleeping in. She hesitated outside the door before opening it and walking in.

"Tempe?" He asked when she closed the door behind her.

"I just want to be close to you." She said climbing into bed beside him and resting her head on his chest. "I don't remember much of you and I together but this just feels right. It feels right to be in your arms."

"My arms are always open for you." He said rubbing her back gently.

"What's our relationship like?" She asked. "Physically I mean."

"Sex?" He asked. She nodded and blushed. "It's like you say, it just feels right, even the first time we were together. It felt like we were meant to be together in that way."

She lifted her head and sought out his eyes in the dim light. "I want to feel it, I want to know what it's like. I want you to show me your love."

"Oh Tempe." He said pulling her closer and claiming her lips. She rolled on top of him, straddling his hips, and lent down to kiss him again.

"Make love to me Seeley." She whispered against his lips.

She could feel his arousal pressing between her thighs and it only encouraged her. He ran his hands up her sides and under the nightgown she was wearing. She sat up and let him remove the clothing. He pulled her back down to him claiming one of her nipples in his mouth. After a minute he moved and gave the other nipple the same attention.

She ran her hands across his bare chest and threw her head back. He held her waist and flipped them over moving back up to kiss her mouth. "You're so beautiful." He said and trailed kisses along her jaw to the sensitive spot behind her ear. She moved her head back again giving him better access to the length of her neck. He slowly kissed his way down her neck and along her collar bone before moving down her chest. He kissed a line between her breasts and across her stomach. He paid particular attention to her bellybutton for a moment before moving lower.

She gasped and moaned when he kissed her inner thigh. He hooked his fingers around her panties and pulled them down gently. She lifted her hips so he could remove the scrap of material. He placed one hand behind her right knee and brought it higher allowing him better access to the sensitive spot between her legs.

"Seeley," His name fell from her lips as his tongue pushed against the sensitive bundle of nerves. She was slick with need and Booth couldn't believe that they'd so easily come back to this point. His rational brain turned off when she lifted her hips off the bed towards him. He ran one hand up her thigh and slipped a finger inside her. She cried out again taking a deep inhale of breath. His tongue continued to assault her clit his finger tilting upwards and running across g-spot. He increased his pace until his name left her lips again and she came hard. Her whole body shook and she took shallow gasping breaths.

He kissed his way back up her body and found her lips. She lifted her hips off the bed again and ground against him. His name coming as a whimper now. "Tell me," He said dipping down to take one of her nipples in his mouth again. He raised his hand to the other nipple and gently rubbed and squeezed the hard flesh.

"Please," She whimpered.

"Please what," He asked switching to the other nipple. His thumb swiped over her clit and she gasped.

"I want you inside me." She managed around another gasp and a moan. His body slid up hers until he was kissing her mouth again. She pushed at the elastic of his boxers and with his help they were soon off his feet. He slid his arms underneath her and rolled them over so he was lying on his back. He heard his name again as the head of his penis bumped against her clit. She sat up and reached between them to guide him to her entrance. He held her hips as she slipped down over him. She lent forward.

"It feels so right," She whispered against his ear before kissing him again. She rose above him again rocking gently. Her hands were flat against his chest. She tilted her hips allowing him deeper. "Faster," She whispered speeding up. His thrusts matched hers and he could tell she was close, so was he.

"Come for me." He urged reaching between them to rub her clitoris.

"Seeley," She gasped so close he could almost feel it.

"I love you Temperance, come for me." He said rubbing her clit again. She called out his name and came hard her core walls pulsing and fighting to pull him deeper. After two more thrusts he came with her pulling her down and claiming her mouth.

They lay together wrapped in each others arms. He made lazy circles on the small of her back and kissed the top of her head. "That was," She stopped and lifted her head. He smiled at her and moved his head to kiss her again. She moved around and got more comfortable. Arranged the covers around her. She closed her eyes and listened to his slowing heart rate.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: I haven't abandoned you! I PROMISE! I've been deathly sick recently and have spent some time in hospital. Hopefully kicking this stupid illness now and I'm starting to get myself back into the swing of writing this story. Here's a chapter that was previously written and hopefully (if the muse allows) there will be more to come soon! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope it was worth the wait!

* * *

"I'm home," Naveh called from the front door. Booth had received a call from Naveh not long after they'd arrived home the previous night. Angela had over indulged and had been quite ill after the trip home. Naveh asked if she could stay the night just to make sure Angela was ok. Neither Booth nor Brennan had seen a problem with it.

"In my office." Booth called from the back of the house. Naveh made her way down to the room and lent against the door frame.

"Hey Sweetie, how's Angela?" Booth asked turning towards her.

"She's ok this morning, feeling pretty sorry for herself but she was recovering nicely when I left. Where's Mom?"

"In the shower." Booth said turning back to his computer.

"Good oh. Are you home all day today?"

"I have to run into the office and pick up a few files, drop off a few reports, I'll only be two or three hours. I'll head off in an hour or so. It's your turn to cook tonight."

"I know," Naveh smiled.

"Well if you need anything, let me know and I'll pick it up on my way home."

"I was going to make lasagne." Naveh said. "Everything I need is here except maybe some cheese."

"Pre grated?" Booth asked turning around. Naveh smiled cheekily and nodded. "Alright then, I'll stop into the market on the way home and pick some up for you.

"Thanks Dad, I'll be upstairs if you need me. I've got plenty of school work to finish off."

"Ok Sweetie," Booth smiled.

"It smells great in here." Naveh smiled walking into the kitchen. She sat down at the breakfast bench. Brennan had just turned out a pan of muffins. "What flavour are they?"

"Blueberry," Brennan said. "I found the recipe online. I figured since I was stuck in the house I might as well do something constructive. I can't work on my book because I have no idea where I'm up to and I don't seem to have brought any work home from the Lab."

"Baking?" Naveh asked raising an eyebrow.

"Why not?" Brennan shrugged Naveh's eyebrow rose a little higher. "I was really bored ok and they were making them on Television."

"Can I try one?"

"They're still hot." Brennan said. Naveh pouted slightly.

"You know I love blueberry muffins right?"

"That's why I chose them, I think the ones on television were oatmeal." Brennan said.

"Tease." Naveh sighed. "How long do I have to wait?"

"Why don't you get us both a glass of milk, I suppose we can try them now."

"The best way to eat them is hot." Naveh said slipping from the stool and opening the fridge. Once she'd poured two glasses of milk she sat back down. Brennan sat next to her and grabbed two of the muffins. "Cheers." She said clinking glasses with Brennan. She studied the muffin in her hand closely before taking a small bite.

"Are they ok?" Brennan asked. Naveh smiled and nodded. Brennan took a bite of her own muffin. She giggled slightly when Naveh took a huge bite of the muffin in her hand. Brennan reached out and wiped the crumbs from the corner of Naveh's mouth. "You shouldn't take such big mouthfuls, you'll choke." Brennan said. As if to prove her point Naveh coughed as she swallowed and reached for her milk. She took a few small sips and cleared her throat a several times. Brennan took a sip of her own milk and turned to check the time on the microwave.

"Just me." Booth called coming through the front door. Brennan turned back when Naveh's half eaten muffin dropped onto the counter.

"These um," she cleared her throat again. "These don't have pine nuts in them do they?" She cleared her throat twice more. Her face had started to flush a deep red. Brennan's eyes flew wide open. "I'm al," She stopped and cleared her throat. "Allergic." Naveh's eyes rolled and she fell sideways off the stool, knocking her glass of milk over as she fell. Brennan was beside her a second later.

"Seeley!" She screamed. Booth ran into the kitchen and took in the scene before him. "She's going into anaphylactic shock." Brennan said looking up at him. Booth ran from the room. "Naveh? It's ok Jellybean, it's ok." Brennan said stroking Naveh's cheek gently. The girl was gasping for breath. "It's gonna be ok Baby, just stay with me." Booth returned to the room and reached for the button on Naveh's jeans. He yanked the material down to expose the tops of her thighs. He jabbed an EpiPen into the exposed skin and counted out loud to ten. Naveh held Brennan's eyes.

"We have to get her to the hospital." Booth said and scooped Naveh off the floor. He headed for the front door. "Bones, get moving if you're coming. I can't wait for you." He called over his shoulder. Brennan didn't move. She stayed on the floor on her knees and watched the puddle of milk spread across the tiles. She didn't move until she heard the front door click shut and Angela's voice drift through to the kitchen.

"Bren, Sweetie, are you here?"

"Angela?" Brennan said weakly. Angela walked into the kitchen a moment later and looked down at her friend.

"Oh Sweetie." Angela said kneeling beside Brennan and putting an arm around her shoulders. "Booth called me from the car on the way to the hospital. He sent me over to check on you. He said Jellybean had an allergic reaction." Brennan simply nodded. "Are you ok Sweetie?" Angela asked. Brennan turned into her shoulder and started to cry. "Shh, it's alright." Angela said wrapping her other arm around Brennan. "Don't cry, shh." Angela rocked gently back and forth and after a minute Brennan had calmed down.

"I almost killed her Ange. I could've, she almost, I could've killed her." Brennan finally spoke her voice thick with emotion.

"It's ok Bren, shh,"

"I could've killed my daughter." Brennan began to cry again. "I cooked muffins. The recipe called for," She stopped unable to talk anymore.

"You had no way of knowing Sweetie. You had no way to know she was allergic."

"You knew?"

"Well, yes, I," Angela stopped and shrugged. "Everyone knows. You do too Sweetie, you just don't remember."

"But I did know Angela. I did. I had this bizarre dream and," She paused and drew a deep breath. "I knew."

"You've got a lot on your mind Bren. These things happen."

"What kind of mother does that make me?" Brennan whispered.

"You're a good mother." Angela said. "Come on Sweetie." Angela said standing up. She grabbed a roll of paper towel and started mopping up the spilt milk. "We'll go up to the hospital and you can see her. Booth should be there by now." Angela tossed the soggy paper towel in the bin and crouched in front of Brennan again. "It'll be ok." Angela smiled holding out her hands.

Booth met them at the hospital. He wrapped his arms around Brennan as soon as she was close enough. After a long hug she turned around and stood with her back against his chest, his arms still wrapped protectively around her.

"Hey, Angela, how are you feeling?" Booth asked.

"I'm better than I was this morning." Angela nodded. "How is she?"

"She's fine," Booth nodded. "They're going to keep her a few hours and hopefully send her home tonight. Just to make sure she doesn't go into anaphylactic shock again. Apparently there's always a risk of another episode."

"Can we see her?" Angela asked.

"As if I could keep you away." Booth said squeezing Brennan. "I'll take you through." He smiled. He released his hold on Brennan but slipped his hand into hers as they walked through the sterile hospital corridors. "In there," He said pointing to one of the doors. Angela walked into the room.

"Sweetie," She said as she disappeared. Brennan stopped before she reached the door.

"What's wrong Darling?" Booth asked.

"I don't think I can see her." Brennan said. "Knowing that she's here because of me."

"Oh Temperance." Booth sighed and pulled her into another hug. "It's not your fault. These things just happen. Neither of us thought to tell you about her allergy."

"If you hadn't been there Booth, she would've died. I had no idea what to do, no idea where her EpiPen was."

"That's not your fault Sweetheart. If one of us had thought to mention it you would've know, you would've done what needed to be done."

"I didn't." Brennan said burying her nose in Booth shirt. "I should've just grabbed the phone and dialled 911 but instead I panicked, I froze. What kind of mother does that make me?"

"Your actions have nothing to do with you being a mother, they have to do with you being human."

"You didn't panic."

"Oh yes I did. You don't think my heart stopped when I saw her lying there, you don't think every rational thought flew out of my head? It did, of course it did."

"You still did what needed to be done."

"That was only years of repressed Military training kicking in." Booth said.

"I should've acted differently." Brennan said. "I'm a grown woman, I'm a scientist, I've never had a problem keeping my cool under pressure before."

"You're in a very difficult place right now. I know you hate to admit it, you hate people knowing that you're vulnerable."

"I'm weak." Brennan said.

"You're not now, nor have you ever been, weak Temperance Brennan-Booth." He said kissing the top of her head.

"I feel so lost, I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

"I know you are Sweetheart. I know. We'll get through it, you and me and Naveh, Ange too. We're all here for you. All you need to know is that we love you. Everything else will fall into place."

"Thank you." Brennan smiled and looked up at him. Booth lent forward and kissed her lips softly.

"Are you ready? She wants to see you."

"I'm ready." Brennan nodded and took Booth's hand again. They walked together into the room. Naveh was sitting up leaning back against soft pillows. Angela was on the end of the bed cross legged. They were talking quietly. Angela turned around when she heard Brennan and Booth enter the room. The green hospital pyjamas made Naveh's eyes look pastel green as apposed to their normal depthless grey.

"Hi," Naveh said smiling.

"Hi," Brennan said leaning in to kiss Naveh's cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm great." Naveh nodded.

"I'm so sorry." Brennan said pulling one of the plastic chairs closer to the bed and sitting down.

"Why?" Naveh asked brushing hair behind her ear. She looked genuinely confused.

"Well, because I fed you something that was, for all intents and purposes, toxic to your system." Brennan said. Naveh raised a single eyebrow.

"I'm a little fuzzy on the last hour and a half but I don't seem to recall you standing over me pouring pine nuts down my throat." Naveh said. "I have a sever allergy, eating food is the risk I take. I'll keep taking it." She smiled. "When we get home, I'll show you where I keep my EpiPens. I'm fine and nothing more needs to be said."

"I just," Brennan started.

"Nothing more," Naveh said cutting her off. Brennan nodded and glanced at her lap. "I'm starving." Naveh said.

"There's news." Angela smiled.

"Quiet you." Naveh said pulling the covers down and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Brennan asked looking up.

"I'm going to get a sandwich and a bottle of water from the patient fridge down the hall." She said taking hold of the IV stand beside the bed. "You want to come for a walk? It's only," She turned around and checked the bed number. "Three rooms down."

"Should you be out of bed?" Brennan asked her brow knitting together.

"I'm fine." Naveh smiled. "I'm only here on the off chance that I have another episode, attack, whatever they're called. Right now I've got an empty belly and a system full of epinephrine. I need to move around some.

"I wouldn't mind something." Booth said.

"The cafeteria is on the floor below us, nice view of the garden. We'll go there and you can get yourself a coffee. You can get me one too if you like." Naveh said her face splitting into a wide grin.


	9. Chapter 9

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: She's a short one, but I'll post two chapters to make up for it. AND I AM SO SORRY IT HAS TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE!! I really am, thank you to everyone who's stuck it out, welcome to the new readers and I will finish this story! I promise!

* * *

"Morning," Brennan said walking into the kitchen. They'd both showered and dressed for the day. Booth was sitting at the breakfast bench drinking coffee and reading the news paper.

"Morning Honey," He said flipping through the newspaper. "Coffee's fresh."

"Great." Brennan said grabbing her mug and filling it.

"Are you going to be alright to get to work this morning? Do you know your way to the Jeffersonian from here?" Booth asked.

"I'll be fine, thank you. Angela, Naveh and I took a drive on Friday. I know my way to the highway."

"Ok then." He nodded and took a sip of his coffee.

"Morning," Naveh said walking into the kitchen pulling her hair back into a ponytail. Her school uniform consisted of a white blouse and navy blue tie, knee length blue and white tartan skirt, long white socks and blue and white saddle shoes. Her eyes were immeasurable pools of ice blue. She paused in front of Booth and bent forward to study the front page. Once she'd read the headline she straightened up and continued across the kitchen. She kissed Brennan on the cheek on her way passed and opened the cupboard. She poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"Are you working today?" Booth asked.

"No," Naveh shook her head and filled a mug with coffee. "Not until the weekend."

"What are you doing this afternoon?"

"Mom will be busy at the lab until late catching up on everything. Are you working late?" Naveh asked taking a mouthful of cereal. Booth looked at her across the top of his newspaper. Naveh sighed. "I'll be at the Jeffersonian then." She said leaning against the bench.

"Do you have security access to the Medico-Legal lab?" Brennan asked.

"Yes." Naveh nodded. "I have to be escorted through the quarantined part of the lab but I can get to it on my own. Doctor Goodman said he'll grant me access when I start my internship."

"Angela mentioned you were doing an internship during the summer break. Are you interested in anthropology?"

"Sort of," Naveh nodded.

"Sort of? Anthropology is an amazing science, you're either interested or you're not."

"I can't take the shades of grey then?" Naveh asked.

"I'll assume that question is rhetorical."

"I like anthropology." Naveh said. "Actually I find it fascinating. Although as fascinated as I am, I'm not willing to commit myself to anthropology just yet. My exposure is limited to what I've seen at the Jeffersonian, not that that isn't extensive, but of what I've seen I do prefer the forensic side of it."

"Our daughter is going to sink her teeth into forensic medicine." Booth said.

"I better get going or I'll miss the bus." Naveh said checking her watch. She rinsed her bowl and mug and set them in the drainer to dry. "Have a good day."

"You too," Brennan nodded.

"Bye," Booth said. Naveh walked into the foyer. She pulled her school blazer and another coat on and grabbed her school bag.

"Bye."


	10. Chapter 10

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Am I making up for anything here? There's still more coming. :)

* * *

Brennan was the first one in the kitchen Thursday morning. The coffee had just finished when Booth came in.

"Morning," He said kissing her on the cheek.

"Morning," Brennan said pouring two mugs of coffee.

"Sleep ok?"

"Yes, thank you." Brennan nodded. Booth sat himself down at his usual place around the breakfast bench and opened the paper. Brennan sat on the opposite side of the bench.

"Morning," Naveh said when she came in a few minutes later. She stopped to check the headline before walking to the cupboard and pulling out her box of cereal. She kissed Brennan on the cheek and poured herself a mug of coffee. She then stood leaning back against the bench while she ate.

"Where are you," Booth started.

"The lab." Naveh cut him off. "You work too hard, it's Thursday." She said swallowing a mouthful of coffee.

"Ok," Booth nodded and turned back to his paper. Naveh checked her watch, rinsed her dishes and set them in the drainer.

"Have a good day at work." She said heading out of the kitchen.

"Bri," Booth said when Naveh got to the kitchen door. She stopped and turned around. Booth looked at her expectantly. Naveh smiled and walked back across to him. They kissed each other on the cheek. "Love you." Booth said.

"Love you too," Naveh smiled. "See you tomorrow."

"Behave and don't stay up too late." Booth said. Naveh sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I won't." She said. "See you this afternoon Mom." She smiled before successfully leaving the kitchen. "Bye," She called and they heard the front door close.

"What are you grinning about?" Booth asked setting his paper down and turning to Brennan.

"Every morning is exactly the same. One of us comes in and makes the coffee, you sit there and read the paper, I sit here and think about what I have to do at work, Naveh comes in, checks the front page, has a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee, you ask her where she'll be that afternoon and then she leaves for school."

"We like routine, it works for us."

"I see that," Brennan nodded. "Why do you ask her where she'll be? She seems to always come to the lab."

"If I'm not working late and finish at five she comes home. She's almost seventeen but neither of us like her being home alone for too long. She doesn't like it either."

"_Man, I hate it when Goodman calls those meetings." Naveh said hanging her coat and scarf on the hooks inside the front door. "I thought it was never going to end. I'm starving."_

"_No surprise there." Booth said taking his own coat off. Naveh flashed him a grin and headed towards the kitchen._

"_Your turn to cook." Naveh called over her shoulder._

"_She's right, Seeley." Brennan said pressing a kiss to his lips._

"_Pizza it is then." Booth smiled pulling Brennan back in for a more passionate kiss. Brennan rolled her eyes and started to remove her coat._

"_Daddy," Naveh screamed. Brennan and Booth dropped their coats and ran into the kitchen. Booth had his gun in his hand by the time they reached the door. Naveh was struggling against the arms of a large man with greasy blond hair. He held a knife to her throat._

"_Put the gun down." He said pushing the knife harder against Naveh's throat._

"_Steve, don't do this, don't do this, let me go. Please, just let me go." Naveh said trying to pull the strong arms away from her._

"_I said put it down," Steve said shaking Naveh violently. She squealed and burst into tears._

"_Ok," Booth said. He crouched down and put the gun on the ground._

"_Now push it this way." Steve said. Booth did as he was told and slid the gun across the kitchen tiles. Steve crouched down slowly and picked up the weapon. "On the ground, on your stomachs, facing away. Do it, now." He said levelling the gun at Booth's chest._

"_Please," Naveh said her cracking with emotion. "Daddy please, save me."_

"_Shut up." Steve said._

"_Mom, don't let him take me." Naveh said. She squealed again and Brennan burst into tears. "Please,"_

_Brennan felt a pressure on the back of her head and everything went black._

"Tempe?" Booth said.

"That um," Brennan swallowed hard. "That was a scary one." She said wiping away a tear that rolled down her cheek. Booth stood up and walked around to her. He wrapped her up in his arms and held her against his chest.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Who's Steve?" She asked after a minute. Booth drew in a deep breath and sighed.

"He's the brother of one of the people that looked after Naveh."

"Her stalker ex-uncle?" Brennan asked looking up at him. Booth nodded.

"He's the one who knocked you over. We've been tracking him for months, finally we got a break in the case and we found him."

"Did he get away?" Brennan asked stepping back and leaning against the bench. "After he knocked me out?"

"No," Booth shook his head. "No he didn't get away. I," Booth paused and drew another deep breath. "I shot him."

"Dead?" Brennan asked. Booth nodded. "I'm sure you did what you had to do."

"It's not that he's dead, or even that I killed him, it's that he'll never pay for what he did to Bri, he should suffer for what he did and now he won't."

"What did he do?" Brennan asked.

"Why don't you tell me what you remember and I'll fill in the gaps."

"He grabbed Naveh, he had a knife to her throat. Here, in the kitchen. I think he must have knocked me out."

"He kidnapped her. He kept her locked up in his basement for almost two weeks. She was found on the side of the highway naked, beaten unconscious and left to die."

"What did he do to her?"

"I don't know," Booth shook his head. "She won't talk about it. There's a case report but neither of us have read it. Bri will talk about it if and when she's ready."

"We got her back." Brennan said. "He can't hurt her anymore."

"I know," Booth nodded. "We better get a move on otherwise we'll be late for work."

* B & B * B & B * B & B *

"Hi Mom," Naveh said from the bottom of the stairs leading up to the quarantine platform. "Can I come up?"

"Ah, sure." Brennan said walking over and swiping her card. "How was school?" She asked resuming her position bent over the bones she was examining.

"Not bad, thanks. I got ninety-eight percent in my history pop quiz." Naveh said pulling herself up to sit on the edge of an empty examination table.

"That's good Sweetie." Brennan nodded.

"I was pretty impressed. I did that presentation in geography, I'll find out tomorrow how I did."

"How do you think you went?"

"Ok I guess. I don't really know. I remembered everything."

"Were you nervous?" Brennan asked looking over her shoulder. Naveh raised an eyebrow.

"No." She smiled.

"Sweetie." Angela smiled walking onto the platform. "Hi,"

"Hey Ange." Naveh said accepting an enthusiastic hug from Angela.

"Are you ever nervous?" Brennan asked. She'd turned back to the skeleton.

"Sometimes, I suppose." Naveh shrugged.

"I've never seen it happen." Angela said leaning against the table beside Naveh. "Except that time we got stuck in the elevator."

"That was different." Naveh said. "That was fear, not nervousness."

"True," Angela nodded.

"Everyone talks about your experiences as if they mean nothing. As if they've read them out of a book."

"It's not like that, it's not disinterest or insensitivity, it's simply a fact of my life."

"I just thought there would be some hint of hesitation, some form of empathy."

"Empathy and sympathy go hand in hand." Naveh said. "Everyone around here knows that sympathy is pity in my book and they know I don't like pity."

"It's not pity." Brennan said shaking her head and turning around.

"There are people in this world far worse off than me." Naveh said. Angela mouthed the words as Naveh spoke. Naveh glared at her and punched her playfully in the arm. "You and Dad, Angela, Hodgins and Zach, even Doctor Goodman, know, to an extent, what's happened to me in my life. They talk about the events of my childhood the same way I do. Simply as what they are, events in the past."

"Surely you see them as more than that." Brennan asked crossing her arms.

"They aren't any more than that."

"That's not true." Brennan shook her head. "These events, as you call them, in the past or not have obviously deeply traumatised you."

"I'm not traumatised." Naveh said raising an eyebrow.

"Yes you are, of course you are, you must be. You've said to me that you have a fear of enclosed spaces,"

"A lot of people are scared of enclosed spaces." Naveh shrugged. "It's called claustrophobia."

"You said your fear is a result of your being locked in a small dark space. In your case that's a fear borne of a distressing experience. Therefore you've been traumatised. Admitting that doesn't make you weak."

"You wanna talk about admitting weakness?" Naveh said slipping from the examination table. "Temperance, you couldn't admit your weaknesses on threat of death. Asthenophobia is your vice, not mine. Not that you'd ever admit it because a vice, by definition, is a weakness. A senseless chicken and egg situation."

"I don't know what that means."

"It's a catch twenty-two." Naveh said walking to the top of the stairs. "Let me down please." She said turning around.

"You can't just walk out in the middle of a discussion." Brennan said.

"This stopped being a discussion a good few minutes ago. It stopped being a discussion when accusations were raised. Now please let me down, or I'll walk."

"Fine," Brennan said swiping her card. Naveh started down the stairs immediately. "But I hardly feel this is a mature way to handle the situation." Brennan said crossing her arms again.

"I'm more than willing to continue talking with you," Naveh said stopping at the bottom of the stairs and turning around. "When you realise that the reason no one, including myself, makes a big deal about my past is because I don't want them too. We speak about the things that happened as though they were everyday occurrences because, for me, they were."

"That's not how it seems to me, and I am no more than an outsider at this point in time. You talk about them as if they mean nothing, as if they were simply events on your favourite television show, as if they happened to someone else and hold no merit in making you into the person you've become."

"That's my way of dealing. Everyday occurrences or not, I don't like to be reminded that they do, in fact, have a heavy bearing on my life and the way I live it. I'd like to at least try and live as though none of it happened." Naveh said and walked away. Brennan watched her disappear out the automatic doors.

"Sweetie, are you ok?" Angela asked placing a hand gently on Brennan's shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be chasing after her?" Brennan said turning around.

"She needs to be alone." Angela said.

"Shouldn't you be consoling her over the heartless monster that her mother is."

"Oh Bren, you're not a heartless monster. You're an odd pair, you and Jellybean. You're both so strong willed and set in your beliefs, in your outlooks, but you just seem to click."

"I may not be the foremost expert on the subject but I'm fairly certain what just happened here wasn't us 'clicking'."

"Sweetie, have you ever had an argument you didn't realise you were having before?"

"We weren't arguing."

"Oh yes you were," Angela nodded. "You may not have raised your voices or almost come to blows, but you were arguing. That's what the two of you are like all the time. You just, click. She speaks your language."

"Ange, I'm no good at the whole motherhood thing." Brennan sighed. "What do I do? Do I go after her?"

"No," Angela shook her head. "Like I said, she needs to be alone. She'll come back and all you have to do keep a cool head and be honest with her, she won't judge you if you're honest. You'll be fine, you're a natural at this, motherhood becomes you."

Brennan walked into her office an hour later and found Naveh sitting on the couch doing her homework. Brennan paused on the threshold and took a deep breath. _Be honest,_ she thought recalling Angela's advice. "I don't understand you." Brennan said. There was no accusation in her voice. It was a simple statement of how she felt.

"I know," Naveh said not looking up. "I don't think you're supposed to."

"That's hard for me." Brennan said leaning against the doorframe. "In the past whenever I've come across something I didn't understand I worked to figure it out. That's why my most meaningful relationships are with dead people. Even if I don't understand them in the beginning I always work it out."

"I'm not a puzzle for you to decipher, you need to realise that." Naveh said still concentrating on the books in front of her. When Brennan was silent for a few minutes Naveh looked up. "You need to know that you may never figure me out. I don't understand you either."

"How do you deal with that?" Brennan asked walking across and sitting next to Naveh.

"I just remind myself that acceptance doesn't always require understanding. Essentially you and I know each other, we know enough to either accept or move on. Whether you remember it or not you chose to accept me, without fear or favour."

"But that doesn't stop me from wanting to understand you."

"I only said I don't understand you not that I didn't want to. I do, of course I do. It's just that I can acknowledge the fact that it might never happen. I learn new things about you all the time, you learn new things about me too. This is a long haul commitment. You're stuck with me Temperance. The best thing for you to do is use the time we have together to get closer and closer to grasping that understanding you're so desperate for."

"Angela's right, you do speak my language."

"It's taken practice." Naveh smiled.

"I was once told that I need to offer up a little of myself in order to get something in return."

"That's good advice." Naveh nodded.

"I feel as though I have all this deeply secret information about you and that I'm not holding up my end of the bargain."

"It's not like that. I unrestrainedly deal out my own personal life knowing that one day I'll get something back. That advice isn't just for you, I've offered up my share and I know I'll get it back eventually. Despite how it seems, I'm not quite so open about my past with everyone. You and Dad and the people here are the exceptions, not the rule. My friends at school have no idea, for the most part, where I've come from. You, Dad and Angela know more than anyone else. There's things I've told you that Ange and Dad don't know, Ange knows things I don't share with you and Dad knows stuff that you and Ange don't."

"Do I play the game?" Brennan asked.

"I can't believe you just said that." Naveh smiled. "You're learning my language as well."

"Do I?"

"Yes," Naveh nodded. "You play the game, hesitantly in the beginning but you're getting better."

"What do you know? What've I told you that no one else knows?"

"Probably a lot of things actually. Some things you may not even know yourself."

"Like what?" Brennan asked. Naveh sighed and looked away.

"This is hard." Naveh said. "These are things that I swore never to share and it's difficult to overcome that. Even if I'm only sharing things about you with you."

"Just tell me one thing, one story." Brennan said. Naveh chewed on her bottom lip while she thought.

"Do you remember sleeping with Seeley? The first time." Naveh asked looking back to Brennan.

"What?" Brennan asked thrown back by the question.

"You must remember, it was before I found you. It must have been about July of last year. You both had too much to drink at Wong Foo's and ended up,"

"I remember." Brennan nodded cutting Naveh off. "That's not what I meant though, I thought you were going to tell me something I didn't remember. Something that's happened since then."

"I will." Naveh nodded and stood up. "My story starts there." She walked over and closed the door before returning and sitting beside Brennan. "Do you know how you and Dad finally ended up together?"

"He told me." Brennan nodded. "He said he found me on the roof. I was upset and he comforted me. He said he confessed his love." Brennan smiled.

"But you don't actually remember it?"

"No," She shook her head. "I don't remember it. Do you know more? Something that I never told him?"

"Yes," Naveh nodded. "I know everything, right now, I'm the only person who does. I know why you were up there in the first place."

"Was I going to jump?"

"It's something you thought about. People don't stand on high ledges in October for the weather."

"Why?" Brennan asked. "And what does that have to do with my sleeping with Seeley months before?"

"You were pregnant."

"Pregnant? That's not possible. If I'd been pregnant in July I'd be ready to have a baby now, if I hadn't already."

"You miscarried." Naveh said squeezing her eyes shut. "My arrival in September coincided with you finding out about that pregnancy which probably had a lot to do with the way you viewed me. When you miscarried in October, at about fourteen weeks gestation, three weeks after I showed up, you spiralled well and truly downwards. You and I still weren't getting on and we didn't for about another month. The loss of that child compounded the guilt you already felt. You thought you'd failed me as a mother and now you'd failed another child."

"So I thought about killing myself?"

"You were in a bad place. You felt as though your life had no purpose, you felt you weren't worth anything."

"And that all just went away? Suddenly I wasn't in despair anymore."

"It wasn't that simple but the things that Dad whispered to you meant something. They reached you and it helped. You were still in a dark place for a long time and even now you think about it. I have no doubts that if Dad hadn't found you that night, regardless of whether you jumped or not, we would've lost you. You would've slipped further and further into yourself and we would've lost you. You felt like you had nothing, Dad showed you that just wasn't true. His love saved you and it will always be there to save you. You realised that and that's what snapped you out of it."

"Does he know?"

"No," Naveh shook her head. "You've never told anyone but me about the events leading up to that night on the roof. Angela knows the two of you slept together once before you were together, that's all."

"Does Angela know what happened on the roof?"

"You, Dad and I are the only people who even know you were on the roof. Now you and I are the only ones who know why. Angela knows you were upset and that Seeley consoled you. You'll tell her one day, when you understand it better."

"What did I get in return? More stories about your childhood?" Brennan asked.

"No," Naveh shook her head.

"What then?"

"I told you," Naveh cleared her throat and looked away. "I told you about what happened in February."

"I don't know what that means."

"In February I was kidnapped by my stalker ex-uncle." Naveh said meeting Brennan's eyes again, they were a clouded grey colour, almost white.

"Steve?" Brennan said.

"You remember?"

"This morning after you left for school, I remembered something, a part of that. I remember you being taken from the kitchen."

"Please don't ask, I'm, I'm not ready to talk about it again."

"Ok," Brennan nodded.

"Maybe I am traumatised." Naveh sighed. "Maybe I cope by pretending that I'm not. Maybe if I tell myself enough that I'm not, that I wasn't, then it'll become true. I don't think it's a fear of admitting it but an unwillingness to accept it."

"I'm still learning the rules of this game we play." Brennan said.

"You have a steep learning curve." Naveh smiled. "I was offering you an apology."

"I know," Brennan nodded. "So was I."


	11. Chapter 11

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: Another dash of spice! M

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Thanks again to Pereybere for this wonderful idea! If she's still around, of course. :) ENJOY!! More after Christmas.

* * *

"It's down in the archive?" Brennan asked. Zach nodded.

"I'll got and get it for you Doctor Brennan." He said and turned away.

"No, Zach, it's ok. I'll go." Brennan said. She scribbled a reference number down on a post-it and headed towards the archives. The Jeffersonian archives were housed in the large partially underground basement of the Medico-legal lab. A combination of pungent chemicals and weak yellow lighting helped to preserve the stored files and gave a dank, eerie atmosphere.

Brennan hated the archives.

The complex as a whole was divided into several sections. The section used by the anthropology department was the farthest from the exit. The long grey corridor that ran through the centre of the archives was lined with water and gas pipes. Brennan sighed before swiping her card and entering the room. She flicked the light switch and closed the door behind her. She gasped suddenly and pressed her back against the door.

"_We shouldn't be doing this." Brennan said as Booth kissed along her jaw. "What if someone comes in?"_

"_In here?" Booth said momentarily halting his movements. "No one ever comes down here."_

"_We're here." Brennan argued. She gasped when Booth's hand slipped across her abdomen and below the waistband of her skirt._ _He stroked her through her panties before his fingers slipped under the lace. She gasped again when his middle finger brushed over her clit. Booth circled the sensitive bud of nerves gradually increasing the speed and pressure. He closed his mouth over hers to muffle a cry when he slipped two fingers inside her and stroked her G-Spot. His thumb replaced the work his fingers had been doing._

"_Still think we shouldn't be doing this?" He asked applying more pressure. Brennan groaned and pressed her hips forward into his hand. Booth kissed along her jaw again and took her earlobe gently between his teeth. Brennan groaned again as she felt her orgasm building. Her given name and Booth's breathless command in her ear pushed her over the edge. "Temperance, come." She bit down on her lip and pressed her face into his neck to stifle another cry. She gasped and hummed in the back of her throat when Booth removed his fingers._

"_Seeley," She whispered finding his lips again. She reached between them and unbuttoned his pants. She pulled the zipper down and rearranged the fabric of his boxers freeing his growing erection. He ran his hands down her sides and hooked her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist, their lips never separating. Holding her weight with one arm he used his free hand to move her skirt and pull her panties aside._

_He entered her in one hard stroke and their lips finally came apart as his name tumbled from her lips again mixed up in another gasp. He stroked gently through her second orgasm amazed that she could come simply from the sensation of him entering her. She dug her fingers into his shoulders and hooked her ankles behind him, drawing her deeper._

"_Don't stop," She whispered against his lips and he pressed her hard against the door. He slid his hands down her body and lifted her slightly higher. His pubic bone now brushed against her clit with each stroke. "Come with me." She breathed pressing her head back against the hard surface behind her._

_Booth felt Brennan's inner muscles start to contract around him. After two more strokes his name fell from her lips again as she came hard pulling him along with her. Her whole body shook as she felt him go ridged in her arms. They stood for a few minutes, tangled together and breathing hard._

_When Booth was sure Brennan could stand on her own again he set her feet on the ground. She drew a quick breath when he slid out of her. He readjusted himself and redid his pants. She looked up at him in silence for a moment and then did something completely unexpected._

_She giggled._

"Wow," Brennan whispered and took a deep breath. She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard.


	12. Chapter 12

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Thanks for hanging in there guys. I know I've been a long time between updates. I'll try and keep the updates a bit more regular but I've stalled a bit on where this was going.

* * *

"You two are up early." Brennan said finding Naveh and Booth sitting at the breakfast bench in the kitchen. "We were at Wong Foo's pretty late last night."

"The dog next door woke me up earlier. I couldn't get back to sleep so I thought I may as well get some of this college stuff done." Naveh said frowning at the screen of her laptop and clicking the mouse a few times.

"Saturday is just another day for me." Booth sighed lowering his newspaper. "I've got to go into the office Cullen is really busting our ass about this latest case."

"Did you say college? Isn't it a little early to be looking at Colleges? You're only in Junior Year." Brennan said filling her coffee mug. Naveh and Booth looked up at each other and then across at Brennan. "What?" She asked looking from one to the other.

"It was your idea to get a jump on it." Naveh said. "You said that too many college bound students leave it until too late. You assured me that the only reason you'd been accepted into your first preference college was because you'd applied during your Junior Year."

"That's true." Brennan nodded.

"So that's what I'm doing. I used an online College Finder to narrow it down to six and now I'm just going through the process."

"Where are you applying?" Brennan asked sitting beside Naveh.

"George Washington here in DC, California State in Turlock, University of Massachusetts in Boston, Hofstra in Hempstead, New York, University of South Florida in Tampa and Wichita State." Naveh said.

"They're all so far away." Brennan said. "Except for George Washington University."

"I know," Naveh nodded. "I'm a big girl, I'll be ok. I spent the better part of two months living on the street and having the crap kicked out of me, I think I can handle university."

"I don't think I like the thought of you living so far away if you get accepted to somewhere like California State."

"Of course you don't." Naveh smiled looking across at Brennan. "But this is my dream, and you know it. I know whatever reservations you have you'll put aside for me."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I'm your daughter and ultimately you'll let me live my own life and make my own mistakes." Naveh said looking back to the laptop. "And you're an intelligent, highly educated woman. You're the one who's reinforced to me the value of a good education."

"What's your major?" Brennan asked. Booth chuckled and Brennan looked up at him.

"We'll go on Bri, tell her." Booth said.

"I'm going to do Forensic Pathology, Forensic Science and Technology and Psychiatry."

"A triple major, can you even do that?"

"Yes you can." Naveh nodded. "It takes eight years instead of four but I'll be able to study all three at once, if I keep on top of it."

"What sort of grades do you get in school?" Brennan asked.

"She's a straight A student." Booth said.

"Except I keep getting Bs in gym. I hate gym and gym hates me."

"Hate is a very strong word."

"You haven't seen me try and play volleyball."

"Why do you have so much trouble with it? You're young and healthy. You seem to be in reasonably good physical condition."

"And I'm exceptionally uncoordinated. I can run alright I suppose but I'm really not one for team sports. It's really no surprise considering I'm a foot shorter than all my classmates. I'm just too little to be of any use in a game like Volleyball or Basketball. I'm not very strong either."

"She's got brains though." Booth said.

"I'll bet that's why," Brennan said. "Because you were never very good at sport, you had nothing to do except study."

"I suppose that's part of it." Naveh nodded. "The other factor you need to consider is that I was constantly changing schools and so I had to do extra study to catch up to where my classmates were. I did a lot of independent study moving from one school to the next because something in one syllabus piqued my interest and then I didn't have a chance to study it in school any longer because it wasn't part of the new curriculum."

"You wanted to be smart."

"I don't think it was a case of _wanting_ to be smart, and really, I'm not, not compared to you." Naveh smiled. "It was more a case of I've just always been curious and I'm lucky enough that I retain information."

"I must admit Bones, she's got good genes in the brains department." Booth said.

"Genetics has nothing to do with it." Brennan said. She opened her mouth to continue her explanation but Naveh interrupted her.

"Mom, that was a compliment." Naveh smiled.

"Oh," Brennan said closing her mouth. "Thank you." She said. Booth chuckled and shook his head.

"You're welcome."

"What do we normally do on a Saturday?" Brennan asked.

"Nothing special," Naveh shrugged. "It's my turn to cook though. Oh, and Parker's coming this weekend." She smiled. "When's he coming?"

"Rebecca is dropping him off after lunch." Booth said.

"Will you be here?"

"I'll try to be," Booth nodded. "I shouldn't be in the office too long. I should be home by about midday."

"Are we doing anything special for him?" Brennan asked.

"It depends on what sort of mood Parker is in. Sometimes he just likes to chill out at home and play videogames." Booth said.

"Can we go for a picnic tomorrow?" Naveh asked.

"Ask the Boy when he gets here. I'm sure he'd love that though."

"Does he understand what's going on with me?" Brennan asked. "Does he know I don't remember?"

"I told him but I don't know if he understands. He's only five." Booth said folding his newspaper and setting it down on the counter. "You'll be fine." Booth said standing up and walking across to the sink. He rinsed his coffee mug and turned around, standing between Naveh and Brennan.

"See you this afternoon." Naveh said kissing his cheek. Booth turned to Brennan and captured her lips.

"Bye," He smiled walking out of the kitchen.

"Jellybean," Brennan said a few minutes later. Naveh raised her eyebrows to indicate she was listening but didn't turn her head. "Do Parker and I get on?"

"Absolutely." Naveh nodded. "He's a good kid. He likes you because you don't baby talk to him like a lot of people do. You just talk to him."

"What sorts of things do we usually do with him?"

"Nothing special, not really. Maybe go to the Zoo, or go on a picnic, watch movies. We have pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. Parker loves playing hide and seek in the back yard. Sometimes we jump the fence and climb the trees or go riding or roller skating. There's a great park not far from here. He loves cruising around with me and listening to music so sometimes we'll just take a trip into the city and back."

"Booth lets you drive with him?"

"Yes," Naveh nodded. "Dad trusts me,"

"That wasn't meant to sound like that." Brennan said. "You're a good driver Jellybean. I didn't mean it like that."

"It's ok Mom, I know what you meant." Naveh smiled. "You called me Jellybean, you've done it a couple of times, did you realise?"

"Yes, am I not supposed to? Is that Angela's nickname for you?"

"I think Ange was the first one to use it." Naveh said looking up thoughtfully. "But everyone at the lab calls me Jellybean, except Doctor Goodman of course. He calls me Miss Brennan."

"Booth calls you Bri,"

"That's right," Naveh nodded looking back to the screen. "I never really had a nickname until I came here and now I've got heaps. Bri, Jellybean, my friends at school call me Nana or V." She smiled.

"Is there a special name which I use?"

"No, not really. You're the only person allowed to call me Baby though."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Naveh shrugged. "Just doesn't sound right coming from anyone else." She offered Brennan a smile before looking back to the computer. A few minutes later Naveh looked up at Brennan when she sighed loudly. Brennan's eyes moved to find Naveh's and the teenager giggled.

"What?" Brennan asked.

"You look bored," Naveh said.

"I guess I am, I'm not used to being home on the weekends I don't think. I'm used to just working all the time."

"I know you are," Naveh nodded. "We can go into the lab if you want to."

"I don't think I want to," Brennan shook her head. "I feel like I should be at home here with you, but I'm not sure what we should be doing."

"You could bake some more muffins," Naveh grinned broadly but stopped when Brennan's face fell. "Oh, come on. I didn't mean to upset you, don't be so hard on yourself. Dad threw the pine nuts you bought away and you know now not to buy more. Mom, please," Naveh said closing the laptop and standing up. "I've had an allergic reaction to pine nuts dozens of times, the other week was the first time I've ever had one here, that's a pretty good record."

"What does that say about me?" Brennan sighed.

"It says nothing about you, but the statement itself indicates you're still feeling guilty, which is nonsense. It's neither logical nor rational to still feel guilt about an honest mistake from which no real harm resulted. I'm exceptionally confident I don't have to worry about it happening again. Just put it out of your mind, and let's do something together."

"Ok," Brennan nodded.

"Now I'm a big supporter of the humble blueberry muffin, but I think Parker would enjoy coming into a house that smelt like freshly baked cookies. What do you say?"

"I really do love you," Brennan said raising one hand and running her fingers down Naveh's cheek. Naveh smiled and took hold of Brennan's hand.

"I love you too Mom,"


	13. Chapter 13

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M. This is slightly spicy… mostly just a bit of an implied sex scene.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Ok, so here we go again! Thanks to everyone who's sent me a review about this story, you guys have some great ideas! Special thanks to WhiteRose0925 for being a sounding board recently! I think it's just what I needed.

* * *

Brennan turned from the coffee machine when Parker, giggling loudly, ran into the kitchen. Naveh came into the room just behind him and caught him around the waist. She lifted him off the ground and turned around before setting his feet on the ground and tickling his ribs and stomach.

"Jellybean," The boy exclaimed still laughing and wiggling to try and get away from Naveh. "You're so silly,"

"I sure am," Naveh smiled and stopped tickling Parker, hugging him warmly against her chest. Parker giggled again and turned around in Naveh's arms to return the hug.

"Can we play in the yard for a while?" Parker asked pulling back from the hug.

"Sure," Naveh nodded. "Go grab your shoes,"

"Great," Parker said running from the room towards the front door where his shoes were waiting for him.

"Are you having fun?" Brennan asked pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"We always do," Naveh smiled and nodded. "Parker wants to see his dad though,"

"I'm sure Booth will be home soon. He said he'd try and be home by noon." Brennan said. She saw Naveh's face fall and the teenager sighed.

"Yeah," She said and turned away as Parker came back into the room with his shoes on.

"Are you ready Jellybean?" He asked almost jumping on the spot.

"You bet," Naveh smiled and nodded guiding Parker towards the back door with a hand affectionately on his shoulder.

Brennan went upstairs to her office to see if she could find any notes about the book she was writing. She opened the French doors onto the balcony and let the warm afternoon breeze into the room as she sat down at the desk. Occasionally, as she thumbed through the pieces of paper on her desk, she could hear Parker and Naveh laughing and calling out to each other from the yard. Brennan paused for a moment and smiled when she heard Naveh shriek and start laughing hard, probably as Parker began tickling her. It seemed right to have the sound of children in such a large house.

Brennan turned her head towards the French doors when she heard something that wasn't a child's laughter coming from the yard. Concentrating hard on the sounds she heard a deeper male voice again, she was on the balcony looking into the yard within seconds. Brennan's stomach untwisted from the knots it had formed and her heart slowed down when she saw Booth standing with Parker and Naveh. He was holding a soccer ball and talking to both children, teaching them something about the game.

"_Two against one, no fair," Booth said rolling around on the grass. He was playing in the back yard with Naveh and Parker. Brennan loved it when Booth was out of a suit and she loved to watch him playing with his kids. She laughed and shook her head, rolling her eyes as Booth struggled to get back to his feet._

_Parker and Naveh had tackled him to the ground during a game of football and the trio were nothing more than a bundle of arms and legs as Naveh and Parker tried to pin Booth down and Booth tried to tickle both of them in an attempt to get back up. They finally reached a truce and lay together on the grass laughing. Naveh and Parker lay either side of Booth, their heads on his shoulders and they looked up at the clouds, finding patterns and pictures in the white fluffy blobs._

The memory ended and Brennan looked back down to Booth, Naveh and Parker. Naveh and Parker were kicking the ball backwards and forward to each other, but Naveh was distracted looking towards Booth who was pacing in short lines talking on his cell phone. Brennan frowned slightly at the look on Naveh's face. She looked let down, disappointed that work was taking her father away from her again.

Brennan left the office, hurrying down to the back yard before Booth could leave again. She met him in the laundry as he was coming in from the yard. "Booth," She said putting a hand on the top of his arm.

"Hi," Booth said smiling and bending forward to kiss her gently. Brennan gasped and closed her eyes as an image of herself half naked and pressed back against the washing machine flashed through her mind. "You ok?" Booth asked. Brennan opened her eyes still able to feel Booth's lingering touches on her skin, his mouth exploring every part of her body.

"We've had sex in here," Brennan stated simply. Booth chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah we have," He said. "We were trying to make Bri some muffins with apple cider in them but we did something wrong and the batter exploded everywhere. We figured the best thing to do was just put our clothes straight in the wash and jump in the shower to get the batter out of our hair. We got there, eventually." Booth shrugged.

Brennan could see the steam from the shower, feel the heat of the water against her skin and Booth's arms holding her weight, her fingers tangled in his hair, his dark brown eyes locking with hers as he vocalised his love for her.

"We have a healthy sexual relationship?" Brennan asked swallowing hard and trying to suppress the shudder that ran down her spine.

"Very healthy," Booth smiled, bending forward to kiss her passionately again.

"Booth, I need to talk to you." Brennan said determined to focus on the reason she'd wanted to catch Booth in the first place.

"What's the matter? Are you ok?" He asked.

"I'm fine," Brennan nodded. "But you need to spend some more time with Naveh, she misses you. Every time I've seen you lately you're rushing off to work and I'm certain it's not a recent development. It breaks her heart every time you leave Booth and she's starting to expect that you just won't show up because you're working."

"I'm doing the best I can Temperance," Booth said, his temper beginning to flare quickly.

"Naveh's already told me that she accepts that you and I both have demanding jobs and that we'll have to be away from her from time to time but even I understand that we have to compensate for that somehow. We have to devote what time we can to her and find a way to ensure that that's enough. It's evident that this kind of special treatment is crucial to her development. Our lives with Naveh have to compensate for the first sixteen years of her life in order to ensure she's as well adjusted to the world as possible. She will need that in order to function correctly in the world during her adult life."

"There's nothing more that I can do," Booth said shaking his head. "Until this case is put to bed, there's nothing I can do."

"There has to be Seeley." Brennan said trying to remain calm. Anger was irrational.

"I need answers Temperance,"

"Your daughter needs you, I need you."

"Steve Sax, the man who hurt you, the man I killed," Booth said and everything suddenly became clear to Brennan.

"You're guilty," She said cutting him off. "You're guilty about killing that man. That's ridiculous Booth, it's illogical to,"

"Don't talk to me about logical." Booth said shaking his head. "Tell me how it's logical that that son of a bitch kidnapped my daughter, kidnapped my wife. Find the logic in what he's done to you, what he's taken from us."

"What's he's done to me?"

"Yes," Booth said loudly, glancing over his shoulder hoping his voice hadn't carried into the yard. "He's stolen my wife away from me Tempe, he's taken our life together away. He's taken you away from me again. And he'll never pay for that. He'll never be brought to justice but I need answers. God damn it Temperance can't you see that I'm doing this for you and for Naveh. I need to know why he did these things to my family.

"Not quite a week after Bri was found, you were abducted from the hospital parking lot. Bri overheard me on the phone talking to someone else at the bureau about it and she got up out of bed for the first time. At this stage she was still in terrible shape and she hadn't spoken since she'd woken up. She pointed out Sax's house on a map and it lead us straight to you. It was the same basement where she'd been held and the bureau hadn't been able to locate until then.

"You were only gone for a few hours. Except for a little bit of rope burn around your wrists from being tied up you were unharmed. Pissed off, but not hurt. He hadn't had enough time to do anything to you. All your injuries were a result of your struggles to get free. Bri had left the hospital against doctors' recommendations and followed us to the house. Agents stopped her before she could enter the house but as soon as the EMTs brought you out on a stretcher there was no Agent that could hold her back. She sat with you and held on to you for days and she wouldn't speak to anyone else.

"I need to know why that bastard hurt my little girl, and why he targeted my wife." He shook his head again, anger falling to despair in his features.

"Booth," Brennan said squeezing his arm. "I don't know much about our life together, or much about Naveh, but I know you. I know you want answers but you can't let this consume you because you will lose Naveh. You're doing it for her, I know that, but if you're not careful you'll push her away. She's my daughter Seeley, don't hurt her."

"Your daughter?" Booth said his temper flaring again. "Your daughter? Jesus Christ Bones, that's a line and a half. You didn't even want her," He was almost yelling again now. "You didn't want her. I had to adopt her. I had to give her a home,"

"I didn't," Brennan stopped and shook her head, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "I thought we'd moved past that."

"You don't even remember it. You don't remember her. You know nothing about her."

"But I want to learn," Brennan said quietly looking down at the tiles on the laundry floor. "Isn't that enough? I thought," She stopped and swallowed her tears. "I thought that was enough."

"It is," Naveh said from the door to the backyard. Booth and Brennan both looked around at her. "Of course it is,"

"Bri," Booth said. Naveh shook her head and pushed past him into the kitchen. "Bri stop," Booth called after her. "Come back, we need to talk about this." He said following her quickly through into the lounge room.

"Talk about what?" Naveh asked spinning around. "I am not a possession for you to use in your petty little arguments." She said. "I am a human being, I am a person, I thought I was your daughter. If all I am to you is a game piece to use, to hold over other people like a trophy than I'd rather be back on the streets."

"Naveh, you're over reacting." Booth said. The look on Naveh's face told that she couldn't believe the words she'd just heard. Her eyebrows shot to her hairline and her mouth dropped open slightly.

"No," Naveh said. "No, you did not just say that to me. I can't," She stopped and shook her head.

"Bri, please, just,"

"No, you know what, I don't even want to hear it. Just don't bother," She said turning around again and running up the stairs.

"What's going on Dad?" Parker asked. Booth turned around and saw Brennan and Parker standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Nothing Bud, Bri's just a bit upset."

"Is she ok? She said we could play T-Ball, she was going to get her glove and a ball we could use."

"I don't think Naveh feels up to playing T-Ball with you right now Parker." Brennan said locking eyes with Booth, making sure he was fully aware of the situation.

"Can you play with me Dad?" Parker asked. Booth broke eye contact with Brennan to look at his son.

"I," He stopped.

"Will you teach me how to play?" Brennan asked putting her hand on the five year olds shoulder. "I'm sure your dad will play after work."

"Ok," Parker shrugged. Booth's chest suddenly felt very heavy and a lead weight dropped in his stomach. Brennan had bailed him out, despite everything he'd said, she was still willing to bail him out.

"We'll teach her Sport, I'm sure she'll be pretty good once she's figured out the physics or something," Naveh said descending the stairs and smiling at Parker. She walked straight passed Booth without looking at him. "I'll race you," Naveh smiled holding up a catcher's glove and small softball.

"Cool," Parker smiled and turned around running out into the yard again. Naveh ran after him making sure to give him a decent but unnoticed head start. Brennan looked up at Booth again before turning around and following Naveh and Parker into the backyard.


	14. Chapter 14

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Well, ok, I'm slack and should definitely be punished. Welcome onboard to all the new readers of this story and another thanks to those who've been hanging in for the years, yes YEARS, since I first posted this story. I'm trying to fall back into the flow of writing after an extended hiatus but hopefully I'll be struck and get some more chapters happening more frequently.

As always, ideas are totally welcome! :)

* * *

"That sounds cool Dad," Parker said enthusiastically as Brennan came into the kitchen the next morning.

"Well eat up your breakfast and we'll get moving," Booth smiled. "Morning Tempe,"

"Morning Bones," Parker chirped.

"Good morning," Brennan smiled. "Where's Naveh?"

"She's at work," Parker said taking a mouthful of cereal. "She said to tell you she'd be home after eleven." He said dutifully and nodded.

"Thank you Parker."

"Dad and I are going to the Go-Kart Track, do you want to come?" Parker asked enthusiastically. "It's so cool," He said taking another mouthful of cereal. "Dad goes really fast around the corners," Parker said leaning from side to side on his stool imitating the motion of going around the corner in the kart.

"You enjoy going in the kart with your Dad?" Brennan asked.

"Totally," Parker nodded, his eyes wide as he took another mouthful of cereal. "I like going with you too Bones," He said. "One time you even let me steer for a minute and I didn't even crash." He said bouncing on his stool. "Soon I'll be big enough to go in one by myself, won't I Dad?"

"You bet buddy," Booth nodded. "You're growing up fast,"

"That doesn't make any sense," Brennan said. "Time is a constant term, Parker is growing up consistently."

"Too literal Bones," Booth smiled.

"I think Jellybean is my favourite to go with," Parker said looking thoughtful and taking another mouthful.

"I'm not your favourite?" Booth asked. "I thought you liked going fast around the corners."

"I do Dad," Parker nodded. "But Jellybean can make it spin around in circles until I get really dizzy."

"Well maybe if she's not too tired she'll come down when she's done working and we can go out for lunch," Booth said.

"Awesome," Parker smiled and nodded.

"Finish up then," Booth said. Parker shoved the last three spoonfuls of cereal in his mouth and slipped off the stool, rinsing his bowl and putting it on the sink. He turned expectantly towards his father. "Go and get your shoes on, and get your coat." Booth said, chuckling at his son's enthusiasm. Parker nodded and ran out of the room.

"I enjoy his enthusiasm," Brennan said turning back to Booth with a smile. Booth returned the smile and nodded.

"So do I," He agreed. "So are you going to join us Doctor Brennan-Booth? I'll treat you to a milkshake. They do up a really mean caramel milkshake at the track."

"I'd enjoy that very much Agent Booth," Brennan nodded.

"It's, ah, Agent Brennan-Booth, actually."

"You took my name?"

"We sort of created our own," Booth smiled. "You anthropomorphised me into it a bit, being all rational and logical about evolution and things I don't really understand. It was only fair though, really, since I got you to agree to the archaic ritual of marriage." He grinned.

"Yes, I understand that." Brennan nodded. "How did you get me to agree to marry you? Maybe there's more to the memory that I've forgotten, but I don't recall lodging any sort of objection to your proposal. That seems unlike me."

"I suppose it was," Booth conceded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe you were just caught up in the moment. I don't think I was paying as much attention as I should have been since I thought you were turning me down."

"Yes, until I'd gained Naveh's approval of our union." Brennan nodded. "I remember that,"

"Maybe you just accepted that it was right because you knew how much it meant to me."

"I do find myself increasingly accepting of things based on your opinions of them."

"Thank God," Booth smiled and stood up, crossing to Brennan and kissing her lips softly.


	15. Chapter 15

Title: What's Locked Inside

Rating: As a whole this story is M.

Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.

Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."

Author's Note: Ok! So, I had a lot of trouble making the end of this sound right but I hope it comes across ok. Just a bit of fluff. :) I'm working on making these chapters a bit longer for you too.

I'm thinking I might make the next chapter a little heavier, a bit of a memory sequence maybe? What do you think?

* * *

Brennan laughed out loud as she watched Booth and Parker speed past her on the kart track to make another lap. Booth and Parker were laughing too, completely relaxed and caught up in the moment they were sharing together. Brennan clapped from the spectator box as she watched the kart glide through the corners on the track and back towards the starting line. Booth slowed the kart as they approached Brennan again and pulled into the small pit lane. Booth climbed out of the kart and unbuckled his helmet as Brennan stepped onto the track to meet them.

"Ok, your turn," Booth smiled. "I'll get some milkshakes." He said handing her the helmet and kissing her cheek gently.

"Ok," Brennan smiled buckling the helmet on. "Are you ready?" She asked looking across at Parker as she made herself comfortable in the kart beside him.

"Yeah," Parker cheered throwing his arms up in the air. Brennan and Booth had spent the entire morning taking turns to drive Parker around the track. Other riders had come and gone through the morning but traffic was fairly light on which allowed the Brennan-Booth family more freedom to play together. Brennan had been slightly apprehensive about the fieldtrip, but almost as soon as they'd arrived at the track she'd felt a comforting sense of normalcy wash over her. "Let's go Bones," Parker cheered again turning his sparkling brown eyes towards his step-mother.

"Let's go," Brennan smiled and pressed down on the accelerator, guiding the kart back onto the track. There was only one other car currently making circuits and so Brennan allowed Parker to hold the steering wheel for short periods, slowing the kart down to allow him to steer them around a few of the corners.

Brennan looked up into the spectators section after a few laps when she heard a familiar voice calling out Parker's name with a string of encouragement. Naveh was standing beside the track clapping and cheering as Parker steered around a corner. The teenager looked exhausted but her voice was strong with enthusiasm. Booth stepped up beside Naveh, placing four milkshakes on a small bench in front of her. Naveh smiled and lent sideways into Booth's chest, letting her small frame rest against his.

Booth picked up two of the milkshakes and handed one to Naveh. She smiled and took a sip, crinkling her nose slightly. She looked up at Booth as he said something and nodded, switching cups with him, obviously having taken the wrong flavour.

Brennan had received a call from Naveh a few hours earlier asking whether it was alright for her to stay a few extra hours at work to cover another shift she'd been offered. Brennan had cleared it with Booth, agreeing that they'd meet at the kart track later that afternoon to plan the rest of the day. Brennan knew that Naveh had been playing with Parker for most of the previous day and had then resigned to her room upstairs to study after Parker had gone to bed. Her light had been on until the early hours of the morning and the teenager had left for work before Brennan rose the next day. It was no wonder she was exhausted.

Brennan guided the kart back into the pit lane after another lap when Booth motioned for them to come over. Brennan exited the kart, moving around to Parker's side of the kart to collect him before one of the staff members of the track drove the kart away to park safely out of the way of any other traffic.

"Jellybean," Parker almost shrieked, wrapping his arms around her when she bent to hug him.

"Hey Baby Booth," Naveh smiled. "That was some pretty awesome steering I just saw, way to go."

"Thanks," Parker smiled, trying to unbuckle his helmet. Naveh smiled and reached out to help him with the buckle. "Thanks," Parker smiled again. "Are you going to have a go with me?" Parker asked taking the milkshake Booth held out for him and handing over the helmet.

"Parker informs me you're his favourite driver," Brennan said as Naveh stood up again.

"Oh really?" Naveh smiled.

"Yeah," Parker nodded. "I like it when we go around in circles." He said.

"Do you just," Naveh giggled. "Well, I guess we can have a couple of goes," She nodded. "And if there's no one else here we might even do a few circles."

"Thanks Jellybean," Parker exclaimed as they walked towards the small setup of tables and chairs on the opposite side of the spectator's area. "How was work?" He asked sitting down on one of the benches. "Did you do anything cool today?"

"Not really," Naveh said sitting next to him and crinkling her nose again. "Just the usual sandwiches and stuff, a bit of filing which is kind of boring, but I got to listen to the radio so that made it ok."

"Did you see any blood?" He asked.

"Parker," Booth said.

"What?" Parker asked looking up. "Sometimes she sees blood and stuff,"

"Not today," Naveh said shaking her head. "I saw someone who had a really bad cut on their head, but it was all clean and covered up. I guess there would have been a lot of blood before I got there. He told me he had seven stitches."

"Seven?" Parker exclaimed.

"Yep," Naveh nodded. "Right across here," She said running a finger across one side of her forehead.

"What happened to him?" Parker asked.

"He got in a fight with someone and they hit him with something hard. A baseball bat maybe, something like that,"

"Ouch," Parker said wincing. "I bet he was pretty hurt,"

"He was, yeah," Naveh nodded.

"Did that ever happen to you? Did anyone ever hit you with a baseball bat?"

"Parker, don't talk about that stuff," Booth said.

"I was just curious," Parker shrugged.

"No one ever hit me with a baseball bat," Naveh said glancing at Booth before looking back to Parker.

"Good," Parker nodded taking another sip of his milkshake. "If they did then I'd," He stopped and looked thoughtful.

"What would you do?" Naveh asked running her fingers through Parker's hair.

"I don't know," Parker shrugged. "Probably tell Dad and make him go and scare them or something. But you shouldn't hit girls. You shouldn't hit anyone unless you're defending yourself." He said. "Isn't that right Dad?" He said looking towards his father.

"That's right," Booth nodded.

"If only there were more people like you in the world Baby Booth," Naveh smiled messing up his hair.

"Did you give him an extra pudding to make him feel better?" Parker asked. "That would definitely help me feel better."

"No," Naveh giggled. "But I'll remember that for next time."

Once everyone had finished their milkshakes, Parker and Naveh headed back towards the track to do a few laps together. Booth and Brennan stood at the side of the track and watched.

"She's quite adept at handling the kart," Brennan observed.

"Taught her everything she knows," Booth grinned proudly. "She's really smart Tempe, like, really smart. Like you but younger. She picks things up super quickly and she understands everything behind the things she's doing. Speed and angles and all that stuff, she gets it and she applies it."

"You're proud of her." Brennan said.

"Yeah," Booth nodded. "Yeah I am. She's a great kid."

"I imagine I'm quite proud of her also."

"You are," Booth nodded again. "I've caught you many times just watching her process information. You're as fascinated by how her mind works as I am."

"I can't wait to remember all this, to fully remember her."

"You're doing great Bones," Booth smiled putting his arm around Brennan's shoulders. She jumped slightly when Naveh turned the steering wheel in the kart hard and hit the brake, causing the vehicle to spin almost a full 360 degrees. Parker was shrieking with laughter as Naveh straightened the kart to do another lap of the track. She forced the kart into another 360 just in front of the spectators. Booth and Brennan both laughed as they watched on. "Wanna race?" Booth asked grinning at Brennan. She returned the smile and nodded.

Booth and Brennan spoke to the staff member beside the track. He provided them with two more helmets and brought two karts out into the pit lane for them. Naveh pulled her kart into the pit lane and came to a stop between her parents when she noticed the two new karts. "Are you with me Baby Booth?" Naveh asked looking towards him. Parker looked at Booth and across at Brennan before turning back to Naveh and nodding. They slapped each other a high-five.

"Ready?" Booth asked.

"Bring it on," Naveh and Parker called loudly. Brennan laughed at their enthusiasm. "Two laps?" He asked.

"That seems like sufficient time," Brennan nodded and Parker giggled. Booth counted down from three and on Parker's shout of 'go' all three karts headed out of the pit lane and onto the track, Brennan in the lead, followed by Parker and Naveh and Booth close behind them.

On the third corner Booth overtook Naveh and angling his kart up behind Brennan. Brennan and Booth could both hear Parker calling encouragement out to Naveh and instructing her to go faster. Booth overtook Brennan coming out of the sharp turn halfway around the course. He glanced over his shoulder to check how far behind him Brennan and Naveh were.

All three karts were close together as they crossed the line to begin their final lap. As Booth and Brennan slowed down for the sharp turn a second time Naveh and Parker sped past them on the outside of the track. "Go Jellybean, go." Parker cheered. Brennan noticed that Naveh had one arm wrapped protectively around him as she sped into the corner, skidding slightly before straightening the kart onto the track. Naveh released Parker, taking the steering wheel with both hands again. Parker remained leaning towards Naveh, holding on around her waist as he had done when she forced the car into a spin.

Brennan smiled at the affection between the two. It was quite obvious to her that Naveh and Parker loved each other very much and that in their own ways they would go to all lengths to protect each other. "We're going to win Jellybean," Parker exclaimed as Naveh navigated into the next corner and pressed the accelerator hard along the straight side of the course. Brennan glanced sideways when she caught sight of Booth in her peripheral vision. She sped up slightly trying to prevent Booth from overtaking her, laughing as he tried to force his way in front of her at the next corner.

Brennan and Booth both heard Parker cheering loudly as he and Naveh crossed the finish line and started a victory lap. Brennan crossed the line just ahead of Booth before pulling into the pit lane. "Nicely played Tempe," Booth said unstrapping his helmet and walking across to Brennan. He wrapped one arm around her and kissed her cheek as they left the track, their karts already being moved out of the way.

Parker and Naveh joined them a minute later, having completed their victory lap. "Did you see that Dad?" Parker asked bouncing up to Booth and into his arms. "Bones, we won, did you see us?" He asked turning towards her.

"It was very well done," Brennan smiled and nodded. Parker started to replay the race as they headed to the entrance and returned their helmets. Parker was throwing himself backwards and forwards in Booth's arms, imitating the sound of the engine. Naveh put her arm around Brennan's waist as they headed towards the car. Naveh offered Brennan a smile when the older woman turned to look at her.

"I'm glad you made it Baby," Brennan said lifting her arm to rest around Naveh's waist.

"I'm glad too Mom," Naveh smiled leaning slightly towards Brennan.


End file.
